Article content continued

The cost of the F-35 first became an issue in 2010 when the Harper government announced it would acquire 65 of the planes for $9 billion, with a total project cost of $16 billion. The Canadian dollar was then at US$0.96.

Read more …

[/np_storybar]

Canada has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the F-35 stealth fighter jet program — even without buying a single jet — but the procurement process has been a political problem for the Conservatives.

Trudeau said the Liberals would launch an open process to acquire new fighter jets other than the F-35s, with the tens of billions of dollars saved used to “fast-track” and expand spending on the Royal Canadian Navy that would “guarantee” the acquisition of long-promised icebreakers and surface combatant ships.

“The Conservative government never actually justified or explained why they felt Canada needed a fifth-generation fighter. They just talked about it like it was obvious. It was obvious, as we saw through the entire process, that they were particularly, and some might say unreasonably or unhealthily, attached to the F-35 aircraft,” Trudeau told reporters at Pier 21 in Halifax.

The procurement process would also ensure that bids guarantee industrial benefits for Canadian companies, he said, typically at a rate of $1 for $1.

Harper suggested Sunday that Trudeau’s announcement raises troubling questions about what sort of capabilities the Liberal leader wants for Canada’s air force.