"The provincial government at the time, led by New Democratic Party (NDP) premier Glen Clark, decided to use provincial Crown corporation BC Ferries to advance its economic goal of supporting British Columbia's shipbuilding industry by creating a fleet of custom-designed high-speed catamaran passenger/vehicle ferries for BC Ferries,"
Cancelling the contract is not the solution. Let's not repeat the mistakes of Jean Chretien who cancelled the helicopters that it turned out we desperately needed. The Sea Kings crash on rescue missions, where we then need to call the American Coast Guard to rescue our rescue crew. We needed those helicopters, but it made for great politics when Chretien promised to scrap it. Turns out it was a mistake to cancel the contracts. Let's not make the same mistake twice.
McKay said that by 2016 the Boeing aircraft would already be out of date.
ReplyDeleteTime that Canada stopped playing poor second cousin to the other NATO countries, buying up their has-been equiptment.
It's cheaper to buy now , plus be awarded $12 Billion in F35 contracts, for doing so.
Minister McKay did very well up against Solomon today, he really knew his stuff and was very confident.
Buy the new fighters,and equip the Snowbirds with 'em so we can all see what we're paying for!
ReplyDeleteDMorris
Lockheed and Boeing became partners in production of the F-35, after the second competing prototype fighter lost out.
ReplyDeleteThe seriously aging Tudors should be replaced with the BAE Hawk, a relatively inexpensive, but still very capable, training jet used by Canada and NATO forces.
I would have liked to have seen Boeing win the contract, but they just could not compete with the F-35.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Snowbirds, give them the old CF-18's once the F-35's are operational.
We need these stealth fighter jets. Those damn talibans might find a way to use fighter jets against us.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous; jet fighters are used for home defense and to project force in any battlefield's airspace.Our future enemies may just have jet fighter capability.
ReplyDeleteWould you rather we not try and defend our own airspace, or protect our soldiers should they find themselves needing air support in the future?
Do you really think the CF-18's will last forever, when they came into inventory in 1982? That would make them nearly 30 years old..even with the upgrades, they are two or more generations behind in terms of interoperability with our Nato partners.
Perhaps you wish the 'procurement process' to go on for 17 years, like our Liberal friends managed to do for the Sea Kings (of which there is no replacement today)?
If you do, then the jets would be going on 50 years! At that point,it would be analogous to retaining your 1960 Ford Fairlaine while everyone else is buying a 2010 Honda Civic for everyday use.
What modern nation flies 50 year old Sea Kings and 30 year old Hornets as their first line aircraft, besides Canada?
No one, that's who.
"Perhaps you wish the 'procurement process' to go on for 17 years, like our Liberal friends managed to do for the Sea Kings (of which there is no replacement today)?"
ReplyDeleteStrawman. Nobody opposed to the single-sourcing of the F-35s is saying the procurement process has to be dragged out to kingdom come. The CF-18s do have several years of life left to them. I'm sure the government could have undertaken a full or even expedited assessment process of the available fighter jets out there and completed it in time to get the replacements into the air before the CF-18s start becoming Sea Kings.
It's not a straw man when your argument has a basis in fact. I asses future actions based on past performances and that performance has been dismal.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition is calling for a) cancellation (NDP) or b) a prolonged tendering process (Liberals)
Considering that the reality is that if the Liberals were in power there would be no new type of replacement aircraft whatsoever,17 years would not be out of the realm of possibilities with their past history of dithering.
A first world country as rich as Canada should not be fielding 50 year helicopters and 30 year old fighter jets, especially if it is serious about its defense.