Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page draws a conclusion.
“Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that the Department of National Defence provided the PBO with figures that did not include all operating costs,” Page told members of the public accounts committee. “The PBO understood that it had been provided with full life-cycle costs from DND as required.”
… Page was asked whether he believed the government had withheld information so Canadians would not know the full cost of the aircraft. “Yes,” he replied.
The Deputy Minister of Defence suggested today that Mr. Page did not include operating costs in his report. This seems to be the same issue that resulted in some confusion last month. As noted then, the PBO report on the F-35 does specify operating costs (see page nine).