Alan Williams, a retired assistant deputy minister in charge of procurement at National Defence who oversaw Canada’s involvement with the U.S. Department of Defence in research and development of the F-35 project prior to 2005, disclosed on Monday a document he describes as the “smoking gun” that proves National Defence and its civilian procurement officials had no intention of conducting the required competitive bidding process to find a CF-18 replacement.
The June 1, 2010, letter Mr. Williams said Ms. Ambrose would have accepted, and taken as part of a brief to Cabinet on the program, came under criticism in Mr. Ferguson’s scathing report last month, when he said Public Works relied exclusively on the brief letter from National Defence as proof for its claim that the F-35 fighter was the only aircraft that met all of the operational requirements the department had developed for the CF-18 replacement. Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and his Cabinet made the decision to acquire 65 of the jets to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter jets in 2010.
The memo was a briefing note written by National Defence assistant deputy minister Dan Ross, who is still in that position in the department and has testified at a Commons inquiry into the project. The memo was a briefing note to then defence minister Gordon O’Connor (Carleton—Mississippi Mills, Ont.) that claimed even then that the F-35 was the “best” available choice for the Canadian air force—even though the aircraft was still in early test and development stages.
“In May, 2006, CAS (Chief of Air Staff) completed an options analysis study that examined the global market for next-generation tactical fighter aircraft,” states the briefing note, which Mr. Williams included in a book on the F-35 that he and Queen’s University launched on Monday in Ottawa. “The results of this study have indicated that the JSF family of aircraft provides the best available operational capabilities to meet Canadian operational requirements, while providing the longest service life and the lowest per aircraft cost of all options considered.”
Mr. Williams noted that even by June 2010 National Defence had not yet come up with a statement of operational requirements for the CF-18 replacement as it was pressing Public Works to sole-source the contracts to buy the aircraft instead of holding an open competition. Mr. Ferguson said National Defence did not approve a statement of operational requirements until August 2010, well after the June 1 one-page letter from Mr. Ross to Public Works and even after the July, 2010, announcement by Defence Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, N.S.) that the government had decided to buy 65 F-35s.
Mr. Ferguson's appearance at the Public Accounts Committee scheduled for Tuesday was postponed on Monday to Thursday, after the auditor general had to obtain sudden medical aid for appendicitis. Also on Monday, House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) ruled against a claim from interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Ont.) that the government violated the privileges of MPs by making contradictory statements in response to Mr. Ferguson’s report.
The government has frozen the $9-billion acquisition budget for the aircraft, although the fleet of F-35s has maintenance and operating cost estimates that total a further minimum of $16-billion over 20 years. The government is also establishing a new secretariat to manage the program.
Mr. Williams said Ms. Ambrose likely approved the decision to allow sole-sourcing on the basis of the letter because, perhaps with an announcement already planned for July, the Public Works department did not have any information to justify a sole-source contract.
“They sent that letter because in theory the minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada is accountable to the integrity of the process. She has to agree to sole source, and she found out a couple of months before the announcement, ‘Oops, I’ve got no evidence. Quick, give me a letter,” Mr. Williams told a news conference at his book launch.
“This is in fact what the AG said. And so in June, out pops this letter that claimed to provide sufficient justification for Rona Ambrose and her staff to jump on board,” said Mr. Williams. “The irony is if you read the letter, the letter isn’t true. The letter basically says, ‘We need to buy this because it’s the only fifth generation,' that kind of thing. And it goes on to say it’s the only aircraft that meets all the requirements. The F-35 does not meet all of the requirements that they set up in the statement of requirements.”
The letter from Mr. Ross to the assistant deputy minister for acquisitions at Public Works, Tom Ring, states: “The intent of this letter is to confirm DND’s requirement for a fifth generation fighter capability to meet the future operational requirements of the CF as stated in the CFDS [Canada First Defence Strategy].”
“The capabilities of a fifth generation fighter include very low observable stealth capabilities as well as an extremely high degree of sensor fusion,” the letter says. “No other available western-produced fighter aircraft has these capabilities nor could they be modified to make them fifth-generation fighters. The F-35 Lightning II aircraft is the only fighter available to Canada that has fifth-genera capabilities and meets the mandatory operational requirements of the CF.”
Liberal MP Gerry Byrne (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, Nfld.) agreed Ms. Ambrose likely saw the letter and passed its contents on to Cabinet.
“Any reasonable person who might judge the standard of conduct that is expected of the minister responsible for the proper handling of contracting on behalf of the government would be outraged if she didn’t [see the letter] and would conclude that she was negligent in doing her job if she didn’t demand a copy of it,” Mr. Byrne told The Hill Times.
Ms. Ambrose dismissed questions from NDP MP Jack Harris (St. John’s East, Nfld.) about the letter during Question Period on Monday.
“Our government has been clear that we expect more transparency and increased due diligence before any purchase is to be made,” she said, noting the government has taken several steps it says will bring more control over the project.
Chief of Air Staff Lt. Gen. André Deschamps told the House Public Accounts Committee the air force still is pinning its CF-18 replacement plans on the F-35.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Tim Naumetz
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