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In the most damning assessment yet of the troubled stealth fighter project, Mr. Ferguson said that the $25-billion figure — which was arrived at by the Defence Department in June 2010 and doesn’t include Canada-specific modifications, ongoing maintenance and other costs — “would have been known throughout government” because they were important for long-term budget planning.

“I can’t speak to sort of an exact date,” he said. “(But) at the point in time, to respond to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s office, it’s my understanding that the government had that number. That was their internal estimate and they should have used that as their opportunity to come forward with the full cost information.”

Mr. Ferguson refused to say whether he believed the government misled Parliament, but opposition parties said if the statement is true, it raises serious questions about whether the Conservatives intentionally withheld information about the troubled stealth fighter in advance of the election.

“What’s just been uncovered and revealed is political fraud at the core of this government,” said NDP military procurement critic Matthew Kellway. “This isn’t a matter of negligence. This is a matter of knowing the cost estimates and failing to tell Canadians what those cost estimates were and, in fact, approving information going out that was knowingly false.”

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae claimed Ferguson’s assertion was very troubling, particularly if the government was intentionally lowballing the stealth fighter’s cost in advance of and during the last federal election.