🇨🇦 Ottawa bought first, asked military later

Mark Carney announced six Saab GlobalEye surveillance planes before the RCAF had even shared its actual requirements with competing manufacturers. Peak Ottawa: stage the photo op, promise jobs, then let the air force reverse-engineer the mission afterward. As reported, the latest assessment says the aircraft meets only part of Canada’s needs and needs modifications for operational readiness. So the government picked the plane before confirming 360-degree radar coverage, NORAD connectivity, crew capacity, or even in-flight refuelling for Arctic patrols.

Stephen Fuhr says there are trade-offs everywhere. Right — because under the managerial class, national defence is just another industrial policy stunt dressed up as sovereignty. They talk independence while buying a half-fitted platform and hoping Saab can patch it later. This is the Trudeau-Carney legacy in one procurement file: politics first, capability maybe, taxpayers last. Canada’s Arctic is not a branding exercise, and our military should not be handed a bespoke compromise so Ottawa can brag about a domestic production line.

🍁 Maple Chronicles