Liberals stumble on jets

The federal government’s plan to buy new fighter jets for Canada is having trouble getting off the ground. After slamming their Conservative predecessors for bungling this vital procurement job, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals took power boasting they’d get it done.

But more than two years passed between the Liberals’ election victory and last week’s announcement that, in early 2019, they would finally launch the full competition to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aging CF-18s with 88 new fighter jets by as early as 2025.

Equally disconcerting is the Liberals’ penchant for reversing their earlier positions on supplying our air force with the equipment it needs to defend Canada.

One year ago, this government said it had to buy 18 Super Hornets from Boeing before making its final decision on replacing the CF-18s.

Back then, the government told Canadians the costly new planes were a necessary, stopgap measure and that buying used jets was no option.

Now, the plan is to buy 18 F-18 jets from Australia that, like Canada’s current fleet of CF-18s, are roughly 30 years old and with limited life expectancy.

Yes, the Harper Conservatives botched this fighter-jet purchase. But so far the Liberals seem to be handling the deal on the fly.

Perhaps they can deliver, and if so they’ll deserve applause. But with the final decision on the jets scheduled for 2022 — long after the 2019 election — Canadians won’t know how this saga will end before they vote again.