Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I know that he likes to blame our government for all the world's problems, so I will just look back and bring up some unpleasant memories about the Harper government's F-35 program.
Our government has always been clear that a fleet of modern fighter jets is essential to Canada's defence and sovereignty. That is why we launched an open and transparent process to replace Canada's fighter fleet with 88 advanced jets. This is something the Conservatives were unable to accomplish in their 10 years in power. Thanks to this competitive process, we will have good aircraft at the right price and also create jobs for Canadians and our businesses.
Let us go back a little in time. Under the Conservatives, military procurement processes were almost always sole sourced, without calls for tender, and the military's expectations were never met.
Here is the Conservative record on fighter aircraft. First, a Parliamentary Budget Officer's report set the cost of purchasing modern aircraft at double the government's estimate. What is even more shocking is the Auditor General's report indicating that the Conservatives kept two sets of books, one for the Canadian public and one for themselves. A decade later, our air force still does not have new fighter jets.
Instead of lecturing us, my colleague should look at what we are doing with respect to the bidding process. He said that members of the Canadian Armed Forces are disappointed, but everywhere I go on the ground, the military personnel I meet tell me they finally have a government that thinks of them and is taking care of them.
Our government will provide the Royal Canadian Air Force with the critical equipment it needs to be fully operational, now and in the future. That is why we are launching an open and transparent competition for the acquisition of 88 new fighter jets. The Conservatives were planning on purchasing only 66, and they were incapable of acquiring a single plane in 10 years.
In the meantime, Canada continues to participate in the joint strike fighter program, which will enable Canadian businesses to obtain contracts valued at over $1.5 billion U.S. It also gives us the opportunity to buy jets under this program if the F-35 qualifies in the tendering process for the future fleet.
This fall, another report from the Auditor General confirmed what we have always known, and that is that the Harper Conservatives mismanaged the fighter jet file and misled Canadians for over a decade. The report also confirmed the existence of the capability gap, which started under the Harper Conservatives.
Unlike them, we will not compromise our ability to meet our NATO and NORAD commitments. That is exactly why we have been working with Australia on the procurement of fighter jets to strengthen our fleet until the permanent replacement for our CF-18s is operational. Some planes have arrived and others will be arriving soon.
We are required to take these measures because of the Conservatives' inaction and the fiasco they created. We are going to make sure that the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force have the equipment and planes they need to continue to fulfill their mission.