Government aircraft’s new taxpayer-funded paint job has a decidedly Conservative theme, NDP says

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper was accused of blurring the lines between government money and party money on Friday after the government paid an extra $50,000 to repaint a military airplane red, white and blue.

National Defence also played down suggestions the aircraft could be more at risk because it stands out and is no longer painted its traditional gun-metal grey.

The Airbus Polaris in question is the aircraft Harper usually takes on trips abroad, including to places like Afghanistan.

It is also sometimes used to transport the governor general, members of the Royal Family, and also to ferry troops and equipment to overseas missions.

The aircraft was due for a major overhaul, but Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall confirmed the decision to repaint it cost taxpayers extra.

“Because they did repaint it with a new scheme, they did incur a slight incremental cost,” he said during a briefing in advance of Harper’s trip to Europe next week.

The aircraft is now white on top and blue on the bottom, with a narrow ribbon of red stretching down the side with several red maple leafs and the words “Government in Canada” in both French and English.

The government says the colour scheme and design “is more reflective of Canada’s national identity and more in line with patterns displayed by other countries aircraft in similar roles.”

But NDP leader Tom Mulcair all but accused the government of turning the aircraft into a giant billboard for the Conservative Party on the taxpayers’ dime.

“The colours of the plane, the whole detailing is clearly patterned on the Conservative Party,” Mulcair said in a press conference discussing Harper’s trip to Europe next week. “I can tell you this, that when we form government in 2015, we will not be painting that plane orange.”

In addition to opposition accusations that the new paint scheme was intended to highlight the Conservative Party, there have been questions as far back as 2009 over whether a change from grey would pose a security concern to the aircraft and its passengers.

“As a result of the multi-role nature of this aircraft, which includes the transportation of Canadian Forces personnel and equipment into areas of operations, it has been painted in a colour scheme appropriate for those tasks,” MacKay wrote in June 2009 email.

MacDougall maintained that the new paint scheme would not impact the Airbus’s ability to undertake any type of mission it could before, including those in hostile environments.

A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Air Force said the Airbus was loaded with personnel and equipment bound for Canada’s training mission in Kabul on Thursday — though the aircraft would not be flying into Afghanistan itself.

Billy Allan, head of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Royal Military College, said the aircraft could have trouble operating in hostile environments as it is painted now, but such missions would only have happened rarely to begin with.

And aside from a camouflaged paint scheme, he said, the Airbus would also have a variety of other defences to protect it in the event of a threat because of its specialized role transporting high-profile dignitaries.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Lee Berthiaume