As predicted by Pogge the Harper conservatives have trotted out their propaganda by turning the F-35 purchase into a "Support The Troops" mantra. If you question the awarding of the largest Canadian military purchase ever in a no-bid arrangement, you don't support the troops.
"It has an impact on morale," MacKay asserted, saying such uncertainty affects the career planning of Armed Forces members and their families.What an utter crock of horseshit. Career planning?! What is this moron trying to feed us.
But since he's at it, let's look at the Harper government record. As dumb an idea as it was, under the Harper plan there were supposed to be rapid deployment battalions stationed in Comox, Trenton and Greenwood. That would affect at least 3000 soldiers and their support elements. With that announced plan, a lot of serving personnel would have been marking a lot of "new" possible posting preferences on their annual Personnel Evaluation Reports. Effect on "career planning"? Big. Those are now wasted choices and prospective postings that vanished.
Equipment purchases have an effect on "career planning"? How about the cancellation of the Joint Support Ship? No big deal? Wrong!!!
If you are a marine engineer of any form you are faced with being one of the dwindling cadre of steam propulsion types trying to keep archaic high and low pressure boiler-fired engineering alive. While all the other "stokers" in the fleet move on to more advanced systems, the navy is still required to maintain training for engineering personnel on steam propulsion systems. Career planning, Mackay? Who cancelled the JSS, and why didn't we hear from you about the impact on career planning for those engineers who have to maintain 2A and 3A engineering certificates?
As bad as the price and the no-bid, no tender nature of acquiring these planes is - I think more important is why in the hell we want THESE planes.
ReplyDeleteI would seem to me that the Opposition should pound on the fact that unless Canada has decided to become an aggressor nation, invading countries at will, this plane is useless. It isn't suitable really for patrolling the arctic, or patrolling anywhere. Nobody needs "stealth" to patrol and defend their own air space - but if you want to inflict "shock and awe" on defended air space like Baghdad or ?, it is pretty handy.
The only morale that would suffer if this order is cancelled would be that of Lockheed and Defence Secretary Gates.
I can't wait until we're through with the HarperCons and "Airshow" is doing humour on late night TeeVee - which is something he might actually be capable of doing, since he certainly is laughable.