Mr. Speaker, the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat is in place to ensure transparency and due diligence in the decision to replace our CF-18s. At this time the government has not spent any money on the acquisition of any new aircraft, and we will not spend any money on the acquisition of any new aircraft until the seven-point plan is implemented. That includes not only an independent audit of DND's updated cost estimates on the F-35 but also a full options analysis on the aircraft available to replace the CF-18.
In the House of Commons on December 10th, 2012. See this statement in context.