Six months ago, after numerous focus group sessions, voter surveys, independent electorate analyses and so forth, the think tank here at Falling Downs concluded that Justin Trudeau was a wanker.
He's a wanker no longer.
Why not? Well, in the first place, he's now the PM, having jettisoned the Harper gang into the dustbin of history... (by the way, does anyone else think the dustbin of history must be getting more overcrowded than a refugee camp in Lebanon?)
Secondly, he's said so-long to Canada's participation in the war on ISIL in Iraq and Syria; not that our contribution ever amounted to much.
Not to worry; seems the Russians are more than willing to take up the slack left by our departure.
Thirdly, he's pulling the plug on the F-35 boondoggle. That's something the Harperites could never have done, because there's way too many of them counting on Lockheed-Martin for lucrative sinecures after they get retired... which happened two days ago.
So, even if we're only 48 hours into the new regime, there's lots of reasons for high hopes...
Which reminds me...
Showing posts with label Canada F-35 contract. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada F-35 contract. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Canada gets buyers remorse on F-35 after 500% price increase
After years of assuring the Canadian public that the F-35 is the only option that meets the needs of the Canadian Forces, Defense Minister Peter "Pinocchio" MacKay faced the cameras today to announce that he'd changed his mind.
"Maybe it's not the only option after all" he admitted. "Heck, maybe it's not even an option!"
MacKay's change of heart followed the release of the latest inquiry into the supposed cost of the F-35. The fighter was originally sold to the the Canadian voter as a $9B project for 65 planes, or roughly $140 million per. With the latest numbers we're now up to almost $700 million per plane, and we're still three years away from the first deliveries!
Not hard to see where that trend line is heading; an easy billion per plane by the time we're defending Canadian sovereignty with them. And as much as we'd like the new toys, that's a bit much to expect the folks to sit still for in this age of austerity.
So Pinocchio and a couple of dozen senior guys in the procurement chain have reluctantly let go of their dreams for Lockheed Martin consulting contracts and will continue to beat the bushes for the next best thing.
"Maybe it's not the only option after all" he admitted. "Heck, maybe it's not even an option!"
MacKay's change of heart followed the release of the latest inquiry into the supposed cost of the F-35. The fighter was originally sold to the the Canadian voter as a $9B project for 65 planes, or roughly $140 million per. With the latest numbers we're now up to almost $700 million per plane, and we're still three years away from the first deliveries!
Not hard to see where that trend line is heading; an easy billion per plane by the time we're defending Canadian sovereignty with them. And as much as we'd like the new toys, that's a bit much to expect the folks to sit still for in this age of austerity.
So Pinocchio and a couple of dozen senior guys in the procurement chain have reluctantly let go of their dreams for Lockheed Martin consulting contracts and will continue to beat the bushes for the next best thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)