Madam Speaker, at the end of the day, this is all about accountability. We are talking about the single largest defence equipment purchase ever and we need to be accountable for tax dollars spent.
When we are talking about signing a deal for $9 billion for 65 new F-35 fighter jets, Australia paid $6 billion and is getting 100 jets. Because we did not actively search for the lowest price, Canadians end up paying more than double the price per unit. Had we bought the 65 F-35s at the Australian price tag, we would have saved $5.1 billion.
I will give three quick examples of where the $5.1 billion might have been spent: 325,421 seniors could have received the guaranteed income supplement; 7,467 new hybrid buses could have been purchased; or 815,869 unemployed workers could have received EI. Would that not have been money better spent than overpaying for the F-35 jets?