military procurement

Unveiling military procurements is a proud Ottawa tradition, even if executing on them is another matter

Opinion: Canada’s shipbuilding plan is ballooning in cost—as these projects often do in many countries. But a former Navy commander says there is another way

The eternal F-35 debate has hit the campaign trail with engines blazing, further complicating what we thought we knew about left-right parties

The term “aging Sea King” is a decades-old joke in Canada. Dramatic change is needed.

Postmedia now reports that a final decision will be made this morning, but there seems general agreement among everyone’s anonymous sources about what that decision will be.

Politicians so often make grandiose claims, and these are so rarely taken seriously, that testing them against facts might seem a low-yield exercise. Who, you might well ask, really cares? Yet I wonder if Conservative assertions about how no previous federal government has poured so much money into the Canadian Forces might be due for a corrective.

The NDP pressed the government again yesterday afternoon to explain the limo tab of three ministers who attended the Davos conference last year. Peter Van Loan’s explanation is that the vehicles in question were selected after a “competitive” process. This explanation prompted a voice from the Liberal corner—belonging to Dominic LeBlanc, I believe—to yell a query at the Government House leader.

Meanwhile, Nathan Cullen challenges Laurie Hawn to a staring contest

The work of the parliamentary committee studying the F-35 procurement is apparently done. At least so far as the Conservative members of the committee are concerned. Here was Conservative MP Andrew Saxton’s explanation yesterday.

Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister who has been raising concerns about the F-35 for months, talks to the CBC about where responsibility lies. Philippe Lagasse reviews the Auditor General’s report and the lessons that should be learned.

Stephen Harper, November 3, 2010.  We are going to need to replace the aircraft at the end of this decade, and the party opposite knows that. But instead, for the sake of getting the anti-military vote on the left, with the NDP and the Bloc, the Liberals are playing this game. The mistake is theirs. It would be a mistake to rip up this contract for our men and women in uniform as well as the aerospace industry.

Julian Fantino reassures Texas that the Harper government is committed to the F-35 program.