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Military wary

Grit record has been apalling

I’m over at the Calgary Garrison Officers’ Mess chatting with former military officers about the coming election and defence and national security issues.

As finance minister, Prime Minister Paul Martin gutted the Canadian Armed Forces in a single act of savagery, chopping 25% off the military budget and slashing its manpower by another 25%.

In what was described as a fit of spite and revenge against former prime minister Brian Mulroney, Martin’s then-boss, Jean Chretien, in his first big act after coming to power in 1993, also cancelled Mulroney’s $4 billion purchase of top-notch EH-101 helicopters to replace our aging Sea Kings.

That decision cost taxpayers $500 million in cancellation fees and left our pilots still flying 45-year-old helicopters at huge risks to themselves and repair costs to the taxpayers.

Yes, the Liberals have an appalling record on defence issues, going all the way back to Lester Pearson’s administration in the 1960s when then-defence minister Paul Hellyer ordered unification of army, navy and air force into one, single entity and destroyed the traditions of the three distinct services.

But, now, on the eve of an election Martin has repeatedly tried to avoid, and filled with announcements of billions of dollars in new spending, his cabinet has suddenly come up with $5 billion to replace the aging Hercules transport fleet.

Is this a case of genuine conversion on the road to Damascus—Damascus this time being a looming election day and a reckoning for the Grits—or just one more typical Liberal smoke-and-mirrors con game?

My officers’ mess colleagues are suspicious it’s another Grit charade, smacking of a desperate attempt at vote-buying, rather than any real attempt to buy our Armed Forces the equipment they need.

The word from the Defence Department and Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison’s controversy-scarred public works department is that only aircraft already certified when the contract is awarded will be considered. This is a lurch from normal practice since certification, or ‘signing off’ is usually done on delivery, and will effectively ensure only one plane, Lockheed-Martin’s C-130, qualifies.

It just so happens Lockheed’s plane is being pushed by CFN Consultants, a huge Ottawa lobbying firm made up of former senior defence officers and other ex-bureaucrats.

For example, four of the past five assistant deputy ministers in charge of procurement for the Defence De-partment are now consultants for this lobby group.

Check out www.cfnconsultants.com/partners.asp

All this begs the question, which aircraft will our Armed Forces end up getting, the best plane for the job, or simply the plane pushed by the lobby with the most friends in the government and Defence Department?

The main competitor to the Lockheed 130 is the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company’s A400M—which admittedly costs about 15% more than the C-130.

Yet the A400M heavy transport can travel twice the distance with twice the payload.

Flying into hotspots, it can roll off two ready-to-go Light Armoured Vehicles—while the C-130 can carry only one armoured vehicle with tires deflated and parts detached.

Are our troops supposed to ask the enemy to hold off firing at them for a few hours after they land while tires are inflated and all the bits and pieces are fixed on?

If Brison’s Public Works Department—that’s where AdScam originated—wants to start redeeming itself, it should start by dropping the certification nonsense and making sure there is fair competition for this contract.

None of my military friends deny Lockheed is not a fine aircraft manufacturer or that CFN Consultants is not a properly registered lobbying group—they simply doubt the C-130 is the aircraft for the job.

The U.S. military has stopped purchasing the C-130, and countries such as Britain, Italy, France and South Africa have opted for the European-made A400M.

My military colleagues feel there’s something not quite genuine about the sudden change of heart by Martin’s government on money and new equipment for the military.

That the contract for the transport aircraft isn’t even being put out to the proper tender makes one suspect they are right to ask if, once again, we are simply witnessing more high-flying—or rather low-flying—Grit shenanigans here.

Paul Jackson
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