Crown chairman gets boot after helicopter fiasco

OTTAWA — The federal government has replaced the chairman of the Crown corporation that facilitated a controversial helicopter deal with the Philippines, and ordered the organization to become less reliant on selling arms.

The shake-up at Canadian Commercial Corp. was announced Tuesday by International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne as he confirmed the Philippines had formally cancelled the helicopter deal.

The Philippines originally planned to buy 16 aircraft from Montreal-based Bell Helicopters for an estimated $300 million.

But that was before concerns were raised that the Philippine military could use the helicopters to commit humanrights violations during operations against terrorists and communist rebels.

In response to a federal review, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at what he described as restrictions on the use of military equipment against terrorists and rebels. He then ordered his military commanders to kill the deal with Canada.

Champagne said businessman Doug Harrison, who heads an international transportation and logistics company based out of Richmond, has been appointed as chairman of the Canadian Commercial Corp. Harrison takes over from Stephen Sorocky, a Toronto-based investor who had served as interim chairman since 2016.