AG slags F-35 program

Video updated Canada’s Auditor General has released a scathing report today slamming the defence department for not revealing the full cost of buying new F-35 fighter jets.

The Auditor General says the defence department lowballed the cost of buying the new F-35 fighter jet, and kept Parliament in the dark.

Michael Ferguson says Public Works approved the purchase without proper documentation or analysis to back up the defence department’s claims that the F-35 was the way to go. The Harper government has said it expects to pay $75 million each for the F-35’s to replace the country’s aging fleet of CF-18 jet fighters. But Ferguson says that doesn’t take into account future maintenance costs or the cost of replacing jets that are damaged or destroyed.

Video: Evening News coverage: