Madam Speaker, I wish to thank the hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. We have been dealing with this issue in committee. We are listening to various stakeholders and this remains an important defence issue for the Canadian Forces and for Canada. The missions in which our pilots are asked to climb into CF-18s and, eventually, into new fighter jets, continue to be very important for our country.
Protecting our sovereignty in the Arctic and having the ability to fly over the second largest land area in the world, and the largest land and water area in the world, are not abstract notions. For the general population and for Canada—which is a reliable NATO ally and which has an air force tradition—it is important to select the right aircraft and the proper equipment for its pilots, which are among the best in the world as we saw again last year during the Libyan campaign.
But let us talk about the real issues. Our CF-18s are nearing the end of their lifespan as safe aircraft for our pilots. Thirty years is a long time. They will get an extension of a few years, since their useful life has been extended. We fully realize that a new aircraft must be chosen pretty quickly. That is why a long time ago, that is, four elections ago—at the end of the nineties if I my memory serves me right—a Liberal government decided not to move forward unilaterally, but to join other partners, namely our NATO allies, to build a new generation aircraft equipped with the modern technology required to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We have been working on this for a decade.
We have accomplished something because the number of partners interested in this project and committed to it has not diminished but increased. Hon. members opposite always forget that countries like Japan not only continue to participate in the project, but have actually increased their order. It is true that some countries are going to spread their order for certain aircraft over a longer period of time, including the United States, but we still have a strong team with reliable partners—