Mr. Speaker, it will not come as a surprise to the member for Wascana that I do not fully accept the premise of his question.
Committees are the masters of their own domain. The member knows that.
With respect to the F-35, let me be very clear. Canada has not signed a contract. We have not spent any money acquiring the F-35. We will not proceed with the purchase until the seven steps that we outlined are completed and developmental work is sufficiently advanced.
The government has clearly communicated the budget that we have to replace Canada's aging CF-18s. We will stay within that budget.