Feds have had independent F-35 review report for a week but have yet to table it in House

PARLIAMENT HILL—The Conservative government has been studying a final report from an independent review of F-35 stealth fighter jet cost forecasts for a week, but has not yet tabled the information in the House of Commons as Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose and other ministers promised last June.

The Public Works department confirmed to The Hill Times this week that a final report from a detailed audit of National Defence department future cost estimates for the troubled-plagued Lockheed Martin warplane was received at least as early as last Tuesday, leaving the government ample opportunity to table it as Ms. Ambrose (Edmonton-Spruce Grove, Alta.) promised as part of the government’s response to a scathing report on the F-35 acquisition from Auditor General Michael Ferguson last April.

According to the terms of a $643,535 contract awarded to the Canadian branch of worldwide accounting firm KPMG, the final report was to be submitted on Nov. 27 and include a full account of DND acquisition estimates, as well as sustainment and operating costs for the expected lifetime of the aircraft.

“KPMG has fulfilled the requirements of its contract,” Sébastien Bois, a communications offer with Public Works, told The Hill Times in an email this week. “We welcome their reports and are carefully reviewing the findings. This information will be released later this year.”

Public Works has recently suggested the Nov. 27 deadline was for a report that would be reviewed by Ms. Ambrose, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and Defence Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, N.S.) if not full Cabinet prior to tabling in the House. Last April, the government promised to table the annual forecast within 60 days of receipt from the F-35 jet fighter project headquartered at a U.S. military centre in Arlington, Va., but withdrew from that commitment when Ms. Ambrose announced the estimates would first come under an independent review.

The wording of the contract, however, suggested the final report from KPMG would be ready for disclosing to Parliament, as well as the public, since the accounting firm, initially accused of a conflict of interest for the job because its parent firm in the United Kingdom is the auditor for an aerospace firm also contracted for F-35 production, provided main findings to the government even earlier.

The deadlines outlined in the Public Works request for bids as well as the timeline fond in the contract states: “Final report of key findings Nov. 20, 2012. Report on independent verification of the 2012 Annual Update to Parliament for the (F-35) Project Nov. 27.”

The Public Works department has consistently declined to state whether the final report on the $40-billion acquisition—expert estimates of the forecast over the F-35 lifecycle, including acquisition and maintenance—will be tabled prior to the Parliamentary Christmas adjournment next Thursday.

Opposition MPs pointed out that even if the report is tabled at the last minute, it will be impossible for any House of Commons committee to scrutinize the figures and information at least until February.

By that time, since the estimates are based on cost estimates generated by the U.S. Department of Defence from production, testing and real costs in 2011, the estimates presented to Canada’s Parliament will be more than a year out of date.

NDP MP Matthew Kellway (Beaches-East York, Ont.) again slammed the government on Wednesday for conflicting statements it has given in the past month about the F-35 project, now being supervised by a National Fighter Procurement Secretariat established in Public Works in response to Mr. Ferguson’s report, and questioned whether it is sincere about its promise to consider other aircraft options for replacing Canada’s aging fleet of Boeing F-18 fighter jets with 65 F-35 attack stealth fighters.

He poked fun in Commons Question Period at Ms. Ambrose for saying the previous day that the government has pushed the “reset” button on the procurement. “Reset and refresh are the new code words,” Mr. Kellway said.

He quoted an earlier statement from Mr. MacKay: “This is the right plane, this is the right number, this is the right aircraft for our Canadian Forces and Canada.”

Mr. Kellway added: “Will any minister stand up and apologize for deceiving us?”

Ms. Ambrose prompted laughter and a bit of haranguing from opposition MPs when she replied at one point to a demand from Mr. Kellway for an “open and transparent process.” “That open and transparent process started right after the auditor general’s report,” Ms. Ambrose said.

Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Tim Naumetz