The federal government didn't mislead Parliament or the public over the cost of buying F-35 fighter jets, it simply didn't include items such as paying pilots, fuel and maintenance over the life of the aircraft, the defence minister says.
"The additional $10 billion was money that you could describe as sunk costs," Peter MacKay told CTV's Question Period Sunday.
Auditor General Michael Ferguson's report last week stated the jets would cost $25 billion and not the $15 billion price tag the federal government has put on the F-35s.
Ferguson also said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet would have known the cost was higher than what the public was told.
But the $10 billion discrepancy includes money the government already pays to keep the country's F-18 jets flying, MacKay said from his riding in New Glasgow, N.S.
"So there's a different interpretation," he said.
"But the way acquisitions have always been done is to key in on the actual costs of new equipment and that is the way that this number was arrived at.
MacKay said he knew as far back as 2010 the full costs would be higher and stating the lower number wasn't an attempt to hide the facts.
"We have included that figure in estimates and information provided to the auditor general and that information goes back to 2010. Those figures are there for all to see," he said.
MacKay also said Ferguson's report included expenses over a 36-year period and not the 20-year model used by the Department of National Defence.
Opposition parties have hammered the Harper Tories since Ferguson's report was released, arguing they knew the actual cost of the "full-lifecycle" of the jets before, during and after the May 2011 election.
"The government knows they have a boondoggle here," Liberal defence critic Ralph Goodale also said on CTV's Question Period.
"It's gross incompetence and it's dishonesty," he said.
NDP defence critic Jack Harris said the issue comes down to honesty and trust, traits the Harper government has failed to demonstrate in the F-35 purchase process.
"And even when you look at the auditor general's report, incompetence handling the biggest procurement that this country had ever had for a single particular aircraft, so we're talking about mismanagement here as well as dishonesty," he said on Question Period.
MacKay indicated he wouldn't resign and that the government is assuming responsibility by following Ferguson's recommendation to launch a secretariat to move the project forward in a more transparent manner.
"Obviously, there is a need to improve the way that we are reporting both to Parliament and to the public," MacKay said.
"I've acted in good faith, always with an eye to providing the men and women in uniform with the best equipment that we can possibly get," he said.
MacKay also said the government hasn't signed a contract with the aircraft's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, but has a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of 65 jets that will replace aging F-18 Hornets.
"There would be costs associated with withdrawing from that in terms of our place in the production line and the delivery of new aircraft," he said, adding those expenses wouldn't be "prohibitive."
He reiterated that no money has been spent or is missing in the process.
But Goodale said the trail goes right to the prime minister, who would have known every minute detail of the file from the beginning, including Treasury Board briefings that his office would have received as far back as 2006.
"He knew all the details and he misled Canadians," Goodale said.
