Trudeau should drop fighter jet purchase
Editor: On Feb. 23, 13 former commanders of Canada’s Air Force sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting he drop the Super Hornet fighter jet purchase.
They offered compelling facts to terminate this initiative. They outlined operational, support, training, manning and financial reasons to do so. They concluded, with an urgent plea to proceed immediately with an open and fair competition (that Trudeau has promised to do) with all viable contenders, including the F-35, to be evaluated as a replacement for the CF-18, but to do it now, as it is entirely feasible to do so.
This would allow for a faster, more effective and much less costly transition to fully operational service by the current CF-18’s eventual replacement.
Finally, they looked to Trudeau to solve the issues that they collectively placed before him.
The manner in which the CF-18 replacement has been handled by the Liberal government has been irresponsible. This has been evident from the start, and numerous letters from a broad spectrum of writers throughout Canada have expressed their dismay at the manner in which Liberal politics over rides national security and selecting the best possible fighter aircraft for those who fly them.
To aggravate all this, and to expose their true colours, the Liberals have compelled all those who were involved in the decision to purchase the Super Hornet, to sign a lifetime non-disclosure agreement (a gag order), which precludes knowledgeable military and civil servants, forever, from discussing the Super Hornet buy.
By any measure, this makes a mockery of the Liberal mantra of transparency.
The bottom line is clear. The air force commander’s wake-up call letter has been delivered into the prime minister’s lap, and with good reason. There is no option for denial or to ignore a letter of such credibility and importance.
The press also has a major role to play here, with an opportunity to educate Canadians on the full content of the letter while simultaneously pressing the Trudeau government to respond and justify its actions against the clear-cut consequences and advice as stated in crystal clear fashion by the commanders, who led our air force for a period of over 40 years.
In so doing, these leaders are totally conversant with the numerous operational, support, maintenance, logistics, training, budgetary requirements and new program issues; all essential to the implementation of our air force’s mandate both at home and abroad, and in NORD and NATO.
Liberal failure to seek and utilize this 13-strong collective asset of professional expertise and experience will brand their current downward spiral as being purely political, devoid of real evidence-based decision making, lacking transparency, and most important of all, the will to put Canada and Canadians first.
Phil Engstad (Fighter Pilot) Colonel (Ret’d), Kelowna