The RCAF's Next Generation Fighter (CF-188 Replacement)

[cavalryman]

Ach, awa' wi' ye, ye glaikit scunner.  Hev ye gaun gyte, Wull?

Gesundheit! [

 

[The Bread Guy]

As expected, Canada pulls out:

Air Recognition

Not quite yet, if Reuters is to be believed -- also note the not wanting to talk about the F-35 thing -- highlights mine ....

Canada's new Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan on Friday said it was premature to discuss which aircraft would replace Canada's aging CF-18 fighter jets, caution that just might offer a glimmer of hope to Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet.

Sajjan's Liberal Party pledged in its campaign to scrap planned F-35 purchases.

But in an interview with Reuters, Sajjan said his fledgling government was still working to determine its requirements for the next jet and insisted the selection process would be "open and transparent."

"I'm focused on the requirements that we need ... as a nation that works with our allies as well, with NATO and our NORAD commitments," Sajjan told Reuters, referring to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Sajjan, a former police officer and veteran of military deployments to Afghanistan, said it would be "premature" to talk about the F-35.

He spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum shortly after meeting Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Work and said he delivered a similar message in private.

"I told the Deputy Secretary the same thing. I want to focus on making sure we have the right aircraft for Canada," Sajjan said, without elaborating.

New Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the F-35 "didn't come up" after his first formal meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday in the Philippines.

Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the F-35 program office, said Canada remained a partner in the program and was still slated to participate in a meeting of the program's executive steering board in Italy early next month ....

Not out yet ....

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Nothing the Trudeau Liberals have done since taking office has been open and transparent. Why start now?

 

[MarkOttawa]

US starting to talk fairly tough, at high Pentagon level:

U.S. expects F-35 to be part of Canada's next jet competition

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Pentagon expects the new Canadian government to allow Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter aircraft to compete to replace Canada's aging CF-18 jets, despite the Liberal Party's stated opposition to the planes, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said on Saturday.

But Work cautioned after talks in Canada that how the fledgling government sets its requirements for the competition would ultimately determine what jet the country gets.

"I think they're going to have another full and open competition. I think the F-35 will be part of that but the requirements from the competition may change. We don't know," Work told reporters traveling with him back from Canada.

Work's comments came a day after Canada's new Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, in an interview with Reuters, said it would be "premature" to talk about the F-35 or any aircraft that might or might not be able to replace the CF-18.

"I'm focused on the requirements that we need ... as a nation that works with our allies as well, with NATO and our NORAD commitments," Sajjan said, referring to the North American Aerospace Defense Command...

Work said he only sounded out Sajjan when the two met in Halifax, Nova Scotia, adding: "I wasn't here to put any pressure on [SURE]."

...Canada, one of the nine countries in the initial F-35 partnership, pledged to invest $150 million in the program's development when it signed up in February 2002.

Those funds would not be reimbursed if Canada exits the program. Many Canadian firms that supply parts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Lockheed each year could also lose those orders.

Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the F-35 program office, said on Friday that Canada remained a partner in the program and was still slated to participate in a meeting of the program's executive steering board in Italy early next month.

"Similar to actions taken by other nations, the Government of Canada is working to launch an open and transparent competition to replace their legacy aircraft," he said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3328517/U-S-expects-F-35-Canadas-jet-competition.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[PPCLI Guy]

Nothing the Trudeau Liberals have done since taking office has been open and transparent. Why start now?

Mandate letters?

Actual press conferences?

Don't let the facts get in the way.....

 

[PuckChaser]

A media scrum is not a press conference. The only thing the Tories got away from was media scrums where reporters yell questions like children. Just remember, that media press conference availability Trudeau campaigned on disappeared after the Paris attacks, so he could spend a few days being told how to respond.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have no faith in the Liberals, but still it's a tad early to start hammering them. they need more rope

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Mandate letters?

Actual press conferences?

Don't let the facts get in the way.....

The mandate letters were clearly designed for our consumption vice the minister's. 

 

[Good2Golf]

The mandate letters were clearly designed for our consumption vice the minister's.

...and you know this to be a fact, how?

You need to start your sentence with an "IMO" or if you are humble, an "IMHO"...

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

...and you know this to be a fact, how?

You need to start your sentence with an "IMO" or if you are humble, an "IMHO"...

Ack. IMHO these letters were written for public consumption.

 

[Altair]

A media scrum is not a press conference. The only thing the Tories got away from was media scrums where reporters yell questions like children. Just remember, that media press conference availability Trudeau campaigned on disappeared after the Paris attacks, so he could spend a few days being told how to respond.

In all fairness to trudeau (ha) word is he was swamped with meeting other leaders.

He has had a bit of a hectic schedule and I'm sure when things calm down some his availability to the press will increase.

Not that anybody plans on being fair. That's ok. Best to pace yourself, 4 years is a long time to be angry. I would know.

 

[PuckChaser]

In all fairness to trudeau (ha) word is he was swamped with meeting other leaders.

He has had a bit of a hectic schedule and I'm sure when things calm down some his availability to the press will increase.

He's the Prime Minister of the country. "I'm busy" after campaigning on open, transparent government with lots of media availability, doesn't cut it. Especially after a major terrorist attack in a G8 country and an ally. If Harper did that, he would have been crucified, regardless on how "busy" his schedule is. The entire summit is a big press conference, and lots of other leaders made time. He didn't, because he didn't know (or get told yet) on what to say.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

The mandate letters were clearly designed for our consumption vice the minister's.

:brickwall:

In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

:brickwall:

Ditto

 

[Edward Campbell]

At the risk of  :deadhorse: and  :bla-bla:  may I remind members of this.

It is possible for people to hold strong political opinions and still debate issues in a civil and respectful manner. I don't have a great deal of respect or hope for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and I deeply distrust the "backroom boys" (and girls) in the party he leads, but he is a lot more than just great hair and unicorn farts. He has an able team around him; he performed well enough, under pressure, in his recent trips abroad and very, very well, indeed, on the campaign trail. He's more than just a "shiny pony."

Of course charisma is not a substitute for gravitas or, more accurately, what the Brits call "bottom," but there's some good, solid "bottom" at the cabinet table and behind the big desks in the civil service. So, please, let's agree or disagree with what he says and does, but he deserves, he's earned the benefit of the doubt, it's still early going, and all that, and let's remember, please, that he and his team ~ HIS team, he would have been crucified if he had finished third ~ won an election in which, initially, they looked to be also rans. He deserves at least a modicum of respect for putting himself out there, offering himself to us (to be either our prime minister or a ritual sacrifice) and for convincing 40% of the 69% of us who voted that he and his team were better choices than the others.

My  :2c: ...

 

[GAP]

:goodpost:

 

[Altair]

At the risk of  :deadhorse: and  :bla-bla:  may I remind members of this.

It is possible for people to hold strong political opinions and still debate issues in a civil and respectful manner. I don't have a great deal of respect or hope for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and I deeply distrust the "backroom boys" (and girls) in the party he leads, but he is a lot more than just great hair and unicorn farts. He has an able team around him; he performed well enough, under pressure, in his recent trips abroad and very, very well, indeed, on the campaign trail. He's more than just a "shiny pony."

Of course charisma is not a substitute for gravitas or, more accurately, what the Brits call "bottom," but there's some good, solid "bottom" at the cabinet table and behind the big desks in the civil service. So, please, let's agree or disagree with what he says and does, but he deserves, he's earned the benefit of the doubt, it's still early going, and all that, and let's remember, please, that he and his team ~ HIS team, he would have been crucified if he had finished third ~ won an election in which, initially, they looked to be also rans. He deserves at least a modicum of respect for putting himself out there, offering himself to us (to be either our prime minister or a ritual sacrifice) and for convincing 40% of the 69% of us who voted that he and his team were better choices than the others.

My  :2c: ...

you seem different from other conservatives I meet online. I hear there is a leadership race coming up, you sure you don't want to throw your hat in the ring?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Ack. IMHO these letters were written for public consumption.

The fact they are going public will cause them to weigh them with a certain wording and direction. I don't have a problem with them going public and it's a good idea. They will also get verbal instructions or other directives that will be covered under Cabinet confidentiality.

 

[PuckChaser]

The fact they are going public will cause them to weigh them with a certain wording and direction. I don't have a problem with them going public and it's a good idea. They will also get verbal instructions or other directives that will be covered under Cabinet confidentiality.

Which goes against what Trudeau campaigned on. He said open and transparent. If he's giving initial direction outside (and perhaps contradictory) to the mandate letters, why aren't they posted? Where's the media crying about a hidden agenda?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have always said the Liberals are far better liars than the Conservative ever were. the Liberals will tell people exactly what they want to hear and then go off and do something else. They rarely closed down any program, just defunded it to the point of bare existence, which allowed them to shove money back into it when the poop hit the fan without making any apparent change in policy, mandate or regulations.

The Conservatives actually shut stuff down, often without doing a great job of consulting broadly beforehand and then recoiling badly from the backlash.