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In the most damning assessment yet of the trouble-plagued 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.

“I can’t speak to individuals who knew it, but it was information that was prepared by National Defence,” Mr. Ferguson said Thursday, “and it’s certainly my understanding that that would have been information that, yes, the government would have had.”

Mr. Ferguson could not say exactly which ministers or members of the Conservative government would have known the Defence Department’s true estimates, but he was clear that by government, he was referring to the executive, namely cabinet and other members of the Conservative government, not the bureaucracy.