There it is. They are all a pack of liars

Harper and all his cabinet ministers involved in the F-35 deal are liars.

If Auditor General Michael Ferguson's word is to be believed — and there is no reason to think that it isn't — then the federal cabinet and by extension the prime minister, and not just the anonymous gnomes in the Department of National Defence, are directly on the hook for the F-35 boondoggle, in the most egregious sense.

They knew before the last federal election that the jets would cost billions more than had been stated by DND — at least $10-billion more, around $25.1-billion. They allowed the department to publicly table an estimate of $14.7-billion.

"I can't speak to individuals who knew it, but it was information that was prepared by National Defence," Ferguson told reporters Thursday. "It's certainly my understanding that that would have been information that, yes, the government would have had."

He continued: "That $25-billion number was something I think that at that time was known to government." And, critically: "It would have been primarily members of the executive, yes."

So, this is no longer a matter of "it happened on their watch." It's a matter of whether there was outright deception, deliberate and premeditated, during an election campaign, on an issue of great national import, by the prime minister and members of the cabinet.

I knew that. I said it yesterday. As I pointed out, it would have been near impossible for the military to have produced a set of numbers so totally skewed as to be unbelievable. The information available through a myriad of public sources before the last election provided estimates on purchase cost alone that put the figures Harper was offering to the lie. Of course, there's more.

Ferguson's remarks do not occur in a vacuum: to anyone familiar with the inner workings of DND, they will ring true. DND Deputy Minister Robert Fonberg and assistant deputy minister (materiel) Dan Ross typically handled matters related to the F-35 procurement. It was standard practice for all information on major procurements, including costing, to be passed on to the inner cabinet. It is highly unlikely, on its face, that anything as important as these numbers would have been withheld from the PMO.

And more. (Emphasis mine)

The initial estimate of $75-million (U.S.) per plane did not include the cost of drag chutes for landing on short runways, or modifications to the refuelling system that DND knew would be necessary. But more important, the estimates of life-cycle costs — including the higher and real number of $25.1 billion, which DND and apparently the cabinet withheld — were for 20 years only. 

"This practice understates operating, personnel, and sustainment costs, as well as some capital costs, because the time period is shorter than the aircraft's estimated life expectancy. The JSF Program Office provided National Defence with projected sustainment costs over 36 years."

Got that? The JSF Program Office is the fact clearing house to all countries involved in the F-35 development project. Undiddled numbers that got diddled somewhere up the line. And those numbers would only be projected maintenance and sustainability costs. In a procurement, such as a US FMS case, it is up to the end-user country to ADD operating, personnel and unique modification costs.

Top all of this off with the shucking and jiving of Rona Ambrose. She too, is a liar.

Bob Rae not only noticed, he handed the government a bomb with a short, burning fuse.

And now, I have to digest some information I have acquired. Some past comrades-in-arms are furious and before they let themselves get hit by an oncoming bus, they intend to stop it before it gets to them.

Before I get to that though, I would like you to consider this. Remember when Ibbitson wrote this about Harper and others in relation to electoral fraud in the last federal election?

As a general rule, politicians never openly lie, because the consequences of being caught in one just aren’t worth it. (Think Watergate, Monica Lewinsky.) Neither of these men would take that risk.

We have absolutely no further reason to accept that premise in any way. Harper is a liar; his minister of national defence is a liar; his associate minister of national defence is a liar; and his minister of public works is a liar. 

Hands up if you think Harper didn't know about the voter suppression effort in May 2011. Because he says he didn't?

Right. Thought so.

Later.