Mr. Speaker, today Parliament will vote on the Liberal opposition motion calling on the government to cancel the purchase of the 65 F-35 fighter jets.
The F-35 program is good for the Canadian Forces and the economy. The forces will be able to replace jets that have reached the end of their lifespan, and the purchase of the F-35s will give Canadian aerospace companies privileged access to billions of dollars in contracts for work on thousands of jets in the global F-35 supply chain, which is much more than if we limited the operations of these companies to Canadian aircraft only.
If it were up to the Liberals, they would cancel the F-35 program and jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs in our aerospace industry. The industry and the workers must not be subject to the Liberals' political games.
Our Conservative government strongly supports the 80,000 Canadians and Quebeckers and their families who work in Canada's aerospace industry.