Government Operations committee  That is exactly what I said.

Government Operations committee  Our assessment was that, if the decision to start again was taken in October, it would take about four years to get more or less to the point where we are now, in terms of the tendering and design process. Some parts could probably be used again, but I am not convinced that there

Government Operations committee  It depends whom you talk to when you ask that question. If you talk to the Naval Association of Canada they'll say the type 31e, for example, would be a significant loss of capabilities. If you talk to the Danes or the shipyard that's building these types of ships they say it's n

Government Operations committee  I'll ask Chris if he can provide an answer to that question.

Government Operations committee  Lightship weight is a very important parameter in our models. Apparently some stakeholders are saying that we overrely on this parameter, but we disagree with that, of course. It's important to note that in the costing literature—because we've looked at that—numerous studies iden

Government Operations committee  I think it's a very accurate, very right analogy; it's probably a very good way of describing it.

Government Operations committee  Carleigh can probably clarify that point better than I could.

Government Operations committee  There's a lot to unpack in your question. We approached the costing with a top-down approach using analogue ships, comparing what has been spent in other countries to procure similar ships, and taking that into the Canadian context, adjusting for productivity, the size of ships,

Government Operations committee  That's a very good point. This project has seen delays and changes in specifications, but I think there's maybe an issue of governance because we have chosen the naval shipyard and the type of ship, and then the costs are almost by-products of these two decisions. Honestly I don'

Government Operations committee  I am no expert—

Government Operations committee  I am no expert in government procurement, but these data are based on the process that National Defence used for the type 26 ships. Unfortunately, I could not tell you whether it's usual, because we did not focus on that particular aspect.

Government Operations committee  They stated that they still stand by their initial amount, their estimate of 2017. A few days or weeks ago in anticipation or right after our report was tabled, they said that they still stand by that $56 billion to $60 billion for the 15 ships. My bet is that they will probably

Government Operations committee  I don't know about that specific question. Carleigh and Chris may jump in; they probably know more about that.

Government Operations committee  That's right—certainly, not to my knowledge. If there is one, it involves billions of dollars over the lifespan of this project. It would be very useful for us to know if such a plan exists because, to my knowledge, there is no such scheme or arrangement.

Government Operations committee  We don't have a specific explanation for this. We used National Defence data. We know that the net weight of the ship has increased, so there are probably changes in the specifications. We also know that the type 26 isn't used anywhere on the planet. So it's a new type of ship, w