Government Operations committee  I don't recall there being such an independent estimate at that time. At that time I was not in my current position, so although I say my recollection is that there was no such independent estimate, it doesn't mean there wasn't any. However, I don't think there was.

Government Operations committee  I don't recall any of my predecessors performing such an independent cost estimate. However, I may be wrong, because in 2013, I was busy doing other things and I don't remember such an estimate. Again, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It probably refers more to my failing

Government Operations committee  We didn't look at the cost estimate and we did not gather evidence, intelligence or information as to how the government came up with its original estimates in 2013 or before. We asked for information from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to help us estimate what we provide

Government Operations committee  My colleagues, Chris and Eskandar, may have more information as to the potential change in the specifications that took place between 2013 and now. I see Chris is opening his mike.

Government Operations committee  That's a very good question, and a question I have not looked into, because the scope of the report was to estimate the cost. If I were to venture into how many icebreakers we need, that would be a much greater endeavour than just estimating the cost. I think that's a policy is

Government Operations committee  We did have a look at the revisions in our estimates arising from different elements. I don't remember, off the top of my head, the component related to inflation. I was coming here prepared to talk about ships, so I'd have to shift gears to talk about the economic and fiscal upd

Government Operations committee  The short answer is no. We rely on the measurements provided by Statistics Canada, which has a very good reputation internationally. It doesn't mean that it's perfect, but we haven't looked at the measurement of inflation and whether improvements are necessary. That's a question

Government Operations committee  It's not impossible. We have a range of estimates that go up to $9 billion as a range of potential outcomes, so it's quite possible that the cost ends up being $4.5 billion per polar icebreaker. Our estimate of $7.25 billion is what we believe, at this point in time, to be the mo

Government Operations committee  I will ask Mr. Penney or Mr. Elmarzougui to explain to you what is included in the project management costs, because I admit that I sometimes have trouble with this question too.

Government Operations committee  That's a good question. I think the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans would be in a much better position than me to answer that question, given that she has at her disposal probably hundreds of officials who are much better at explaining the shipyard and capacity issues of the ind

Government Operations committee  Again, I cannot speak specifically to the issue of dry docks, but one thing is clear. When we look at costs around the world for major ship procurements, be they Coast Guard or National Defence, there's a direct link between the capacity of the country to build ships on a large s

Government Operations committee  “The Fiscal Monitor” is an important source of information for parliamentarians, for Canadians and for me, of course, as are the quarterly financial statements and the monthly statements that we get from the Receiver General. However, the comment in my report of a couple of wee

Government Operations committee  We used a combination of comparators. We used ships that were of a roughly similar size but not with the same mission. We also looked at ships with a similar mission but not of a similar size. There could have been ships of broadly the same size and the same mission that we cou

Government Operations committee  We're as confident as possible, considering the fact that this is a program that does not have that many comparators. With the data that we were given, we are fairly confident in the cost estimate of $7.25 billion, recognizing that there are unknowns and that this is a long-term

Government Operations committee  The biggest point of uncertainty is the fact that there are not that many ships with that capacity in the world for which we can get reliable cost estimates. That's the biggest unknown.