Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Canadian procurement

[17][18][19] Alan S. Williams of Queen's University, the former Assistant Deputy Minister of National Defence (Matériel) who signed the original industrial participation agreement, indicated he believes that the Government of Canada's rationale for joining the JSF project was not due to an urgent need to replace the Canadian Forces' CF-18 Hornet fleet; instead, it was driven primarily by economics.

Improved interoperability with major allies allowed the Canadian Forces to gain insight on leading edge practices in composites, manufacturing and logistics, and offered the ability to recoup some investment if the government did decide to purchase the F-35.

[35] In December 2010, Eurofighter and Saab offered their own fourth generation fighters – the Typhoon and Gripen, respectively – for less than the F-35's cost, but the Government of Canada stated that the F-35's stealth was the best way to ensure that pilots could safely complete future missions.

The Conservatives had declared it their top defence priority, the Liberals indicated that they would hold a competition to select a new fighter, the New Democratic Party was opposed to the purchase and the Bloc Québécois were in favour of it only as long as Quebec aerospace firms get a share of the work.

Their position, particularly on the lack of need for a competition, was refuted by former Assistant Deputy Minister of National Defence (Materiel) Alan Williams: "For Canada to commit to purchase an aircraft without knowing for certain what it will cost nor how it will perform operationally makes no sense.

[9][10] On 28 March 2011, The Globe and Mail revealed that the Conservative Party candidate for the Ontario riding of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Raymond Sturgeon, was until December 2010 a paid lobbyist working at CFN Consultants and lobbying the government on behalf of Lockheed Martin.

[82] On 30 March 2011, Carl Meyer wrote in the Canadian foreign policy publication Embassy magazine: "The F-35 is already promising to be a big issue in Campaign 2011 with the Liberals raising it several times ... the Conservatives are trying to contain the fallout ... that one of their candidates in the current election was a lobbyist until last December for Lockheed.

When Canada purchases new fighter planes, we will have a transparent, competitive process to procure equipment that best meets our needs, achieves best value for money, secures maximum industrial benefits, and fits a realistic budget.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff accused the Harper government of having "forgotten people" affected by the Late 2000s recession and indicated that the Conservatives intend to spend billions on fighters, corporate tax cuts and new super-prisons, while ignoring regional economic development.

[117][119] Byers and Webb responded to Fantino via Embassy magazine, stating: "Thanks to the introduction of faith-based procurement, the Harper government can now ignore the complexities and inefficiencies of design specifications, equipment testing, contract tendering, specified industrial regional benefits, etc.

Toronto Star national affairs columnist Tim Harper indicated a "Plan B" to the F-35 was inevitable: "the price tag Ottawa has placed on the planes —$16 billion — was surely conjured by Aesop and its insistence on delivery dates had to be penned by the Brothers Grimm.

The CBC's Laura Payton wrote, "Fantino's comments mark a change in tone from previous answers to questions about the possibility of rising costs and design problems with the Lockheed Martin fighter jets.

"[128] The Globe and Mail columnist Campbell Clark accused Fantino of carrying out a "classic tactical manoeuvre: the quarter-turn retreat ... the Harper government is committed to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but not so much that it's necessarily going to buy the things.

Fantino's answer was "We will remain committed to the Joint Strike Fighter program ... a contract has not been signed for a replacement aircraft and we will make sure that the air force and the men and women there have the necessary tools to do their job and that's the bottom line.

"[136] On 3 April 2012, the Auditor General of Canada heavily criticized the F-35 procurement in his spring report, which stated that the government did not run a fair competition, that costs were seriously understated and that decisions were made without required approvals or documentation.

Marc Garneau, the Liberal Party's Industry, Science, and Technology critic, said "The government will do an enormous amount of spin today and say that they were misled by [Defence Department] officials, it wasn't their fault, and now they're going to take action.

"[147] Andrew Coyne of the National Post said "a fiasco from top to bottom, combining lapses of professional ethics, ministerial responsibility and democratic accountability into one spectacular illustration of how completely our system of government has gone to hell".

[169] On 28 April 2012, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page was interviewed on the CBC Radio program The House and indicated that the government appeared to have two sets of books on the F-35 project, one for internal use with higher estimates and one for public consumption with lower numbers.

[172] In May 2012, former Assistant Deputy Minister of Defence Alan Williams released a book, entitled Canada, Democracy and The F-35, which explained how the process was run backwards, picking the aircraft first and then creating requirements to justify the choice.

"[173] On 14 May 2012, an annual planning report for the F-35 program was presented to the House of Commons by Treasury Board President Tony Clement which clearly indicated that the government was still not considering any alternatives and expected delivery of the first example in 2017, a year later than previously forecast.

The panel consisted of: Philippe Lagassé, assistant professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa and critic of the F-35 procurement; James Mitchell of consulting firm Sussex Circle, a retired senior civil servant with cabinet and the Treasury Board; Keith Coulter, former head of the Communications Security Establishment, former fighter pilot who commanded a CF-18 squadron and former member of the Snowbirds; Rod Monette, former federal comptroller-general and DND chartered accountant.

Stewart stated, "America's problems here put Ottawa in a most uncomfortable position as it finds itself wrestling with a fighter option it can't afford with an aerospace giant in decline and likely unable to extend as many economic side benefits as were initially promised ...

Huebert said that the Eurofighter Typhoon is solely an "interceptor", the Saab Gripen is "a bit of a [Cold War] relic", and the Super Hornet a "total colossal waste of money", noted that Australia bought them only as a stopgap measure before the F-35 arrives.

[245][246] In late April, a report for The Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Rideau Institute by Michael Byers, indicated that government estimates for the F-35 program may underestimate cost by Cdn$12-Cdn$81 billion, depending on different factors taken over the aircraft's 40-year lifespan.

[260] On 10 December 2014, Ottawa Citizen writer Michael Den Tandt criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the F-35 procurement: "He promised the country a renewed, properly equipped, capable military, lo those many years ago, in 2005–06.

[5] In September 2015, Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia wrote an analysis of the F-35 procurement that indicated with the recent loss of value of the Canadian dollar, due to a crash in oil prices, that it was no longer affordable.

[270] In November 2015, the Hill Times reported that the previous government had quietly disbanded the Public Works department secretariat established in 2012 that was in charge of reviewing the fighter procurement earlier in 2015, indicating that a decision had been made on the purchase.

[276] In June 2016, the media reported multiple sources indicated that the new Liberal government had decided to buy Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as an "interim" fighter, after Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan warned that the country has an impending military capability gap.

[276] On 10 June 2016, Pat Finn, the Assistant Defence Deputy Minister of Materiel, addressed a House of Commons committee and stated that all the possible options, including sole-sourcing and a full competition, were under study, but that no decision had been made.

[280] Lockheed Martin responded to the news: "although disappointed with this decision, we remain confident the F-35 is the best solution to meet Canada's operational requirements at the most affordable price, and the F-35 has proven in all competitions to be lower in cost than fourth-generation competitors".