By Kyle Duggan The cost of Canada’s incoming fleet of advanced stealth fighters has exploded by nearly 50 per cent in just a few years, auditor general Karen Hogan said Tuesday in a new report. The fighter jet audit is one of eight tabled in the House of Commons by Hogan and environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco which flagged problematic procurement contracts, a backlog in applications for First Nations status and a lag in reducing federal office space. An investigation by the auditor general of Canada finds costs associated with the F-35 advanced fighter jet program are running $8.7 billion higher than the original estimates. And it warns the program is being plagued by delays and crucial shortfalls — including a lack of qualified pilots. The report lands in the middle…