Wednesday, September 15, 2010

No fighter jets, not now and not this way!

No, Mr. Harper! You do not make the rules!
And the government's statement today, according to CBC's The National, that "the deal is done" is worthy of a federal election. Canadians do not want to spend this money on fighter jets, not now, and we hope, not ever!
This government must not be permitted, not by the skin of our nationally "chinny chin chin" to purchase those 65 F35 Fighter Jets, at a purchase price of $9 billion with a service contract ballooning the purchase to $16 billion by reasonable estimates.
There is no war, especially with the Russians, even over the Arctic. And your "Wag the Dog" phony attempt to demonstrate there is danger, when the Russians were conducting normal manoeuvres by flying over the Arctic, does nothing to enhance the credibility of your argument nor the integrity of your government. And there is no support in Canada for statements made today in Moscow by Foreign Affairs Minister Canon that Canada will defend (presumably by force) her sovereignty over the underwater mountain range for which Russia also claims sovereignty.
There is no proof that this, or any other fighter jet, is being purchased at "fair market value" because the purchase was not even tendered. And long-time procurement experts contend that such a move would be regressive in Canada's purchasing development.
And to watch the fanfare of cabinet ministers, almost a Cecil B. DeMille production, with flags for potential jobs through tenders from various suppliers across the country jumping off the screen in the committee room where the purchase was being "questioned" by the opposition, was an insult to the intelligence of the Canadian people. One has to wonder just how insulted the members of the parliament from the opposition parties were by the charade.
No war, no tender, no real initiative for the purchase from the military except from one or two retired personnel, and a budget debt and deficit that would be staggering, if not eclipsed by the U.S. fiscal performance...and even parliament does not get the opportunity to formally debate the purchase, if one day of hearings is all it takes to "ram" the move through, presumably by an already signed contract with Lockheed Martin of the U.S., the cost of extrication from which probably is astronomical...and the Canadian people are supposed to lie down and calmly wait for this Harper steamroller to roll over our body politic like a humvie over the deserts of Afghanistan.
Well, Mr. Harper, this is a verbal, prosaic IED, and improvised explosive device, which your humvie has detonated...and with any kind of luck, it will take more than medics to revive your government after the shrapnel of its words, thoughts, arguments and passion have taken their toll on your ministers and your PMO.
You deserve defeat; you deserve defeat in resounding terms, so that the echoes are heard down the decades remaining in the tweny-first century. And I will petition every Canadian, through every means at my disposal to bring the full weight of our collective voices raining down on your arrogant, phony and pig-headed decision.
Enough!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home