F35 (image credit - Global)

By Michael Reeve

FIGHTER JETS

‘I’m not sure why the Trudeau Liberals took so long (to buy fighter jets);’ Kamloops MP Caputo

Jan 9, 2023 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — Monday (Jan. 9), federal defense minister Anita Anand announced Canada will purchase a fleet of F-35 fighter jets to replace the country’s aging crop of CF-18s. The 88 new jets will cost $85-million a piece which, along with associated spare parts and infrastructure, leads to a total investment reach $19-billion.

The first F-35’s are scheduled to be delivered in 2026 with the full fleet being purchased and delivered in a phased approach.

The announcement Monday morning from Minister Anand comes eight years after, just after assuming office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to never buy the F-35s. Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo says that unnecessary delay hurts Canada’s ability to protect itself.

“Canadians deserve the best equipment possible to protect our sovereignty. If you look at our situation, for instance, in our Arctic, we are very vulnerable. This isn’t something I’m saying that is a big secret, we all know that we are vastly under-resourced in the Arctic. I’m not sure why the Trudeau Liberals took so long to make this decision and why they committed an obvious flip-flop on the decision itself,” said Caputo.

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The Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper proposed buying a fleet of F-35s in the early 2010s.

The $19-billion price tag may cause sticker shock for many Canadians, however the $85-million-per-jet price tag is the same price paid by the U.S. government.

Caputo put the heavy price in context by comparing it to COVID-19 relief funding — some of which is now believed to be spending on fraudulent claims.

“If we want to put that into perspective, how much money did the auditor general find that was fraudulent used on CERB? About 20-to-25 per cent of that overall price tag. How much money in those CERB payments was suspicious? About the price of the whole package for these fighter jets,” stated Caputo. “When we talk about keeping Canada safe, we also have to talk about keeping Canada safe in an efficient manner, spending efficiently, investing wisely, protecting our troops and protecting Canadians in the way that makes sense.”