Calling for a reset on the F-35, circa 2010

A year and a half ago, the Liberals used an opposition day to put forward the following motion.

A year and a half ago, the Liberals used an opposition day to put forward the following motion.

That, in the opinion of the House, the government’s decision to purchase the F-35 stealth fighter jets without holding an open competition will cost Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars at a time of unprecedented deficits and will create fewer jobs in the Canadian aerospace industry than would be guaranteed through an open competition and therefore the House calls on the government to immediately cancel their plan to spend $16 billion through an untendered, uncompetitive process while there is still no penalty to do so and instead commit to holding an open competition to replace the CF-18s based on clear and publicly disclosed foreign and defence policy requirements.

That day’s debate on the motion starts here and resumes here. Tony Clement’s response for the government is here. Rona Ambrose’s response is here. Laurie Hawn’s formal response starts here.

When the motion was voted on a few days later, it was defeated, with Conservative and Bloc MPs voting against.