The government defended its decision Friday to spend at least $9-billion for the latest generation of fighter jets — one of the biggest military purchases in Canadian history — without a single competing bid.
The Liberals and a former public servant who once headed the purchase project say the massive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter purchase should have been subjected to competitive tenders.
“I'm questioning the hypocrisy that now soars higher than this aircraft,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in rebutting Liberal criticism that the contract was not competitive.
He noted that the previous Liberal government launched Canada's involvement in the project a decade ago.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay is joined on stage by Industry Minister Tony Clement, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose and MP Jacques Gourde as they take questions following the announcement in Ottawa.— THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The total value of the contract is expect to rival the amount spent by the Conservatives four years ago when they rolled out a series of high-profile military purchases of transport planes, helicopters and armoured trucks.
Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose repeatedly refused to say how much the maintenance contract would be worth after being pressed by reporters.
For his part, all Mr. MacKay would say is that previously reported estimates of that were incorrect.
The government committed $9-billion to buy the 65 planes from Lockheed Martin, and the first aircraft is to be delivered by 2016, said a statement from the Defence Department.
But the overall cost is expected to soar to $16 billion when a 20-year maintenance contract is factored in.
The 65 new jets would replace the Air Force's aging fleet of CF-18s that recently underwent a $2.6-billion upgrade.
Mr. MacKay said those airframes will be 40 years old by the time they need another upgrade in 2020 and it made more sense to invest in new aircraft.
“We need to ensure our fighter-aircraft fleet remains the best in the world to meet the threats of the 21st century,” Mr. MacKay told a splashy news conference featuring a mock-up of the jet as a backdrop.
Mr. MacKay had assured Parliament there would be a competitive process for the selection of new planes, but cabinet decided to go with an untendered contract.
“We're very pleased with the decision and are committed to supporting the government of Canada in moving forward with the F-35 Program Integration,” Lockeed Martin executive vice president Tom Burbage said in a statement.
Steven Staples of the Rideau Institute, a defence think tank, said the sorry shape of the economy made this the wrong time to buy these jets.
“These are 'Flying Cadillacs' that are not needed for the defence of Canada, and are unaffordable,” Staples said. “The government should wait until national finances are in better shape, and use resources for other priorities, such as fixed wing search and rescue.”
A model F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is displayed at a Department of National Defence news conference announcing a $16-billion contract to purchase the aircraft in Ottawa on July 16, 2010.— Campbell Clark/The Globe and Mail
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he would put the deal on hold if he were elected prime minister.
Mr. Ignatieff is calling on the House of Commons defence committee to reconvene as soon as possible to examine what he calls the Tory government's “secretive, unaccountable decision to proceed with this contract.”
He says the non-transparent, non-competitive contract to build the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is not a good idea considering the Conservatives are also looking at cuts to Veterans Affairs.
Newly released polls conducted for the Defence Department late last year suggest Canadians are generally quite supportive of increased military spending.
The survey conducted by the Strategic Counsel for the government indicated 74 per cent of Canadians surveyed support “significant government investment” in the Canadian Forces.
