NDP MP Christine Moore quoted Ambrose as having said that no money will be spent on replacing the CF-18s “before the secretariat does all of the work necessary to independently verify the costs and the options available to replace our aging fleet.”
So, Moore wondered what those available options are.
“Can she name one single other fighter other than the F-35?” Moore asked the empty seat across from her.
In Ambrose’s absence, Jacques Gourde, the Public Works parliamentary secretary, decided to provide some kind of a reply.
“Mr. Speaker, the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat is in place to assure transparency and a reasonable due diligence in the process of replacing the CF-18,” Gourde read from a prepared sheet he held in his hands.
The question of “options” for Canada’s new fleet of fighter jets is indeed a fuzzy one. When the Department of National Defence responded to the auditor general’s report back in April with its seven-point action plan, it stipulated (in point four) that it would “continue to evaluate options to sustain a Canadian Forces fighter capability well into the 21st century.”
It is unclear what that means. On its site, for example, DND stipulates that “Canada’s future operational requirements, both at home, on the continent, and abroad, can only be met with fifth generation capabilities.” DND also specifies that “a fourth generation aircraft cannot be upgraded to a fifth generation aircraft.”
Back in June, NDP MP Matthew Kellway asked National Defence Minister Peter MacKay via a question on the order paper whether use of the term “fifth generation” is considered appropriate for a statement of requirements.
The actual, full, statement of requirements is still confidential, but MacKay replied in June that “the term ‘fifth generation’ is not used in the next generation fighter capability statement of operational requirements, SOR.” The term, he said then, “has developed out of an unofficial categorization of fighter aircraft.”
This offers Canadians an interesting conundrum.
As it happens, just below where National Defence states that a fifth generation plane is the only one with the capabilities that could meet Canada’s requirements, it also rolls out a rather specific list of some of those capabilities. The list is limiting in that it focuses on certain things – like stealth, and the “complete fusion of the sensor data and external information, automatically providing the pilot with a filtered and clear overview of the total tactical situation” – that are so far only available together on the F-35.
So, it might be an unofficial designation, but at the moment it means only one thing.
Back in the House, Moore was up again with another question for the government.
“Let’s talk about the secretariat,” she said.
Moore said that point four indicates “it is then clear” National Defence “has the responsibility to evaluate other options.” That, to Moore, pointed to a part of the government’s cabinet other than Public Works. She wondered aloud whether MacKay could tell the House where that departmental study is now, and what fighter jets other than the F-35 were presented within it.
MacKay sat across from Moore and said nothing. Instead, Gourde was again the point man on the question.
“Mr. Speaker, no money has been spent on the purchase of a new fighter jet, and no money will be spent until the secretariat has independently examined the necessary costs of replacing the CF-18,” Gourde read out to the House.
The NDP wasn’t finished. This time, MP Matt Kellway posed a question, this time in English.
“The Minister of National Defence is clearly reluctant to get on his feet about the F-35s and I guess that he is embarrassed after his big announcement that the Conservatives are buying 65 F-35s and for calling us unpatriotic for questioning the F-35s,” Kellway said, to a few jeers from the government side. “Now it is back to his department to look for alternatives to the F-35s.”
“I have a question for him,” Kellway said, meaning MacKay. “We all know the statement of requirements was wired in favour of the F-35 – the [auditor general] said so; the [prime minister] agreed. So, is his department revising the requirements, and if not, who is?”
MacKay just sat there.
Gourde stood up again.
“I’ll repeat myself,” Gourde said before repeating himself, reading again from the page in front of him. “The National Fighter Procurement Secretariat is in place to assure transparency and a reasonable due diligence in the process of replacing the CF-18.”
With that, the dialogue on what will be a multi-billion dollar taxpayer purchase of military aircraft was over for the day.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Colin Horgan
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