Tory effort to shut down F-35 hearings delayed: ‘They are very afraid of what is going to come out,’ Liberal MP says

OTTAWA — A Conservative government effort to shut down parliamentary hearings into the auditor general’s scathing report on the $25-billion F-35 stealth fighter project has been held off for at least a couple more days.

Members of the House of Commons public accounts committee spent about an hour-and-a-half arguing behind closed doors over whether to end the panel’s inquiry or call more witnesses.

No decision was taken by the time the meeting ended, said Liberal MP Gerry Byrne, who faces possible punishment for disclosing what was discussed during an in-camera meeting, something prohibited under parliamentary rules.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Thursday behind closed doors.

The effort to shut down the hearings, led by Conservative MP Andrew Saxton, comes after about seven hours of testimony from witnesses.

Liberal and NDP members of Parliament had expected the hearings to continue this week, but Saxton introduced a motion during the committee’s May 17 meeting to stop calling witnesses and have the panel prepare a report.

The Conservatives say the committee has heard already from the auditor general three times, as well as the parliamentary budget officer and officials from four federal departments.

But Byrne said the opposition has not had a chance to hear from ministers or mid-level officials who were directly responsible for the government’s handling of the F-35 file.

“The government wants to shut this down, and for good reason,” Byrne said Tuesday. “They are very afraid of what is going to come out.”

Even if opposition members manage to delay a final vote to close debate on the auditor general’s report, the Conservatives hold a majority on the committee and could force an end to the study.

National Defence bureaucrats, along with Defence Minister Peter MacKay and associate minister Julian Fantino, have come under heavy fire since Auditor General Michael Ferguson released a damning report on the F-35 last month.

Ferguson’s report found senior managers twisted rules, downplayed problems and withheld information about the stealth fighter program — failing to disclose before the last election, for example, that the planes would cost taxpayers at least $25 billion — about $10 billion more than what the government promised.

Defence Department officials, led by deputy minister Robert Fonberg, the department’s top civilian, have disputed many of Ferguson’s findings and questioned his conclusions.

Original Article
Source: national post
Author: Lee Berthiaume