Tories face more opposition fire over revelations about stealth-fighter program
Posted April 5, 2012 5:31 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The Harper government is likely to face more withering opposition fire in the Commons Thursday.
Bob Rae is demanding Stephen Harper’s resignation, accusing the prime minister of lying to Canadians about the deal to equip Canada with the new F-35 stealth fighter.
Auditor General Michael Ferguson has reported the Defence Department manipulated the process, low-balled cost estimates and kept Parliament in the dark to ensure it got the fighter jets it wanted, without competition.
Rae says escalating problems with the F-35 program have been widely reported and it’s just not credible for Harper to claim he didn’t know about them.
N-D-P Leader Thomas Mulcair, however, argues Defence Minister Peter MacKay should be held responsible — though he stopped short of demanding his resignation.
Harper has tried to neutralize the opposition attack by noting that no money has been spent on F-35s and the government can still opt out of the program.
