Mr. Speaker, last week I asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence several questions during the adjournment debate. I have an opportunity to come back to the same issue today because I have not yet received an answer to the question I posed some time ago.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence again talked about the government's seven-point plan. This plan has made no difference whatsoever. In fact, the government is not even following its own plan. It is a smokescreen or the government is treating people like idiots. As you wish. The talking points from the Prime Minister's Office are read over and over because there is not much else they can say to save face.
Last week, the parliamentary secretary suggested that I consult the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat's website, which I did. It says:
--the Secretariat is committed to coordinating timely, open and transparent communications through: regular reporting to Parliament; ongoing briefings with stakeholders; a dedicated website to post and share information; regular updates on the status of implementing the action plan.
With regard to the regular reporting to Parliament, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services announced on June 13 that the secretariat was operational. Yet, over six months later, we still have not received any reports from the secretariat.
With regard to the ongoing briefings with stakeholders, even the Chief of the Air Staff did not seem to be aware of the work the secretariat is doing regarding the fighter jets. With regard to the regular updates on the status of implementing the action plan, there have been no updates aside from the endless talking points during question period. It is important to note that talking points and updates are not the same thing; there is a big difference. Updates give new information on how the work is progressing. Talking points allow the government to buy time in order to figure out how it is going to get out of this mess.
What is more, the website states that the secretariat is exercising the required due diligence, oversight and transparency. However, it also states that a DM-level governance committee is overseeing the secretariat's work. These are the same DMs who, a few months ago, had not demonstrated any of the required due diligence, oversight or transparency.
Lastly, it says this:
Parliament and the Canadian public need to have confidence in the open and transparent acquisition process that will be used to replace the CF-18 fleet.
Why, exactly, do Canadians and Parliament need to have confidence?
As we have just seen, none of the secretariat's promises were kept even though it has been up and running for six months and the Auditor General's report was released nine months ago. The government talks about taking immediate measures, but nothing has changed in the past six months.
We know that this secretariat is made up of the same deputy ministers and that they are using the same numbers and the same data provided by National Defence that the Auditor General deemed inadequate. So why should Canadians have confidence in this secretariat?