Mr. Speaker, the F-35 procurement process has had so many problems that the Associate Minister of National Defence does not even know how to defend it anymore. Yesterday he said that all acquisitions and procurements currently under way for the Canadian Forces are “holy and decent”. Those were his exact words.
Would the minister have us believe that the F-35s—the fighter jets that seem to have one new problem after another, including safety issues, skyrocketing costs and delivery delays—are a gift from above? How pitiful.
It has become clear that all of the countries that were considering purchasing the F-35 are backing off. Canada is the only one continuing its crusade towards this reckless, irresponsible expenditure.
The government is completely incapable of managing this file and is now hoping for a miracle from up above, instead of coming up with a plan B. There is no evidence that this is the right plan. We must launch a competitive bidding process.