Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the first two AOPS were delivered in July 2020 and July 2021, and the next three are under construction. The project budget is $4.3 billion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, we always try to respect the budgets.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, as I said earlier, there are cost pressures because of COVID, but we always attempt to have those budgets respected.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, in these contracts, we are always looking for the best value that can be provided, and this is based on the production timing as well.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I am sorry. I had a problem with interpretation, just the last sentence.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, if I understand the question, for the F-35s, we weighted the highest economic benefits to that project, and that was part of the selection of the final bidder.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, as I have said, the weighting in this procurement project has given the most significant weighting to economic benefits in our history, and it was a 20% weighting. That was considered in the successful selection of the final bidder.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I appreciate the member's advocacy but that has not been determined yet.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the negotiation process is ongoing with respect to the F-35s. We expect that a contract will be signed by the end of the year in this finalization stage. We are hopeful for that. Terms will be worked out in that contract.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the terms of the contract will be respected. This is a very significant investment we are making, at $19 billion. We want to make sure that we get it right. It is important to have the details right in this contract. We are going to make every effort to ensure those de

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I believe the member is referring to the economic benefits, and as I have said, this is something we have prioritized with respect to this procurement. It is a $19-billion procurement. It is an important procurement, and we of course want to ensure that we are going to

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the cost comes from the Department of Defence.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, this is a rigorous procurement process. It is why we undertook the process. It was competitive. We wanted to ensure we got the best plane for the best price with the greatest economic benefits for Canadians.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, we are still in negotiations so a final price has not been determined, but that will be determined in the negotiation process. I trust the hon. member understands that we cannot release that information now because negotiations have not concluded. This is the finalizat

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, again, that was the whole reason we had this competitive process. We wanted to ensure we were getting the best price. There were three bidders that came forward. The process was valuable in terms of the competitiveness.