Mr. Speaker, nothing has been forced on us. The hon. member understands full well that there was a selection process for this aircraft under the previous Liberal government. The selection process was validated by our government and by nine other governments who are now participating in the project. We just heard from Colonel MacDonald, a retired member of the Conference of Canadian Defence Associations, today in committee, and he said that there was no other alternative.
The true fiasco is that the NDP, Michael Byers and others are publishing reports that say that the F-35 is not the right aircraft. They have a real plan B and that is to cut Canada's military budget and reduce our capacity to the point where we would not have the equipment or the staff required to carry out missions in the future.
The Rideau Institute, the organization under which Mr. Byers published his report, clearly stated today that it would like only $15 billion to be allocated to defence—
