F-35 on the Block Again!

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's latest ploy to get headlines is telling everyone he will scrap the F-35 Lightning if he is elected Prime Minister. 

Canada has agreed to buy some of these very expensive planes to eventually replace its aging CF-18 Hornet fighters.  We have invested millions into the research and development of this very sophisticated plane.  Now Trudeau wants to scrap the deal.  He says it won't cost Canada anything.  I beg to differ.

When these planes are built for the RCAF, many components will be made here in Canada, giving many, many people jobs.  I would imagine some companies are already set to start making these parts. 

It's going to cost us money to get out of those deals, like it did when the Liberals bailed out of the EH-101 helicopter deal some years back. That was newly elected Jean Chrétien's election promise.  It cost the federal government millions of dollars to get out of that deal to build those helicopters here.  (After Canada paid out all those penalties, the Liberals decided to replace the aging Labrador helicopters with EH-101s, built in Europe!!)

Going back into history, Canada's Avro Arrow was also a victim of a Conservative election promise.  Then-newly elected  John Diefenbaker did the deed, that time!

Now I hear the new ships for our navy are also on the chopping block!

I think we need to stop putting new military equipment onto the election campaign platforms!  They don't belong there!  The men and women in Canada's armed forces need to be provided with the best equipment possible, without having to worry whether the next government will zap that equipment!

The Feds are just plane stupid!

Sixty years ago the Liberal government decided we needed a new advanced fighter plane for the R.C.A.F.   They poured millions of dollars into the development of the fabled Avro Arrow amidst screams from the opposition over the cost of the new plane and inside deals.  The Conservatives were elected to form the next government and promptly cancelled the Arrow program.  The cancellation cost the federal government tens of millions of dollars in payouts without one plane to show for it.   Canada eventually leased substandard jets from the U.S. to take the role the Arrow was to perform.

Fast forward to the 1980s.  The Conservative government decided we needed a new helicopter for the Canadian Armed Forces.  They poured millions into a program to build the European EH-101 helicopters here amidst screams from the opposition over the cost of the new plane and inside deals.  The Liberals were elected to form the next government and promptly cancelled the EH-101 program.  That cancellation cost the federal government tens of millions of dollars in payouts without one helicopter to show for it.  Canada eventually bought EH-101 helicopters from Europe (we call it the Cormorant) to replace the Labrador helicopters for search and rescue.

Now to a few years ago.  The Conservative government decided we needed a new advanced fighter jet for the R.C.A.F.  They’ve poured millions into the development of the F-35 Lightning II amidst screams from the Opposition over the cost of the new plane and inside deals.

Does anyone else see a pattern here?