Having lived in Canada for the past few years I can safely say that the public at large honestly doesnt care what equipment is bought as long as the purchase isnt botched. The system of government ensures that the kind of political games the Gen. mentions are the greatest threat to military spending. The public at large is for the most part quite supportive of the military, their reputation for good behavior and "peacekeeping" means that they have a relatively clean recent record (Rwanda not withstanding. The problem is largely that the past few aquisistion programs have been botched, the chinook debacle, the long winded sea king replacement the Gen. references, all left a bitter taste in the public consciousness. Now the government has used the threat of snap elections (and further instability) to bully the parliament into staying quiet on the F-35 deal. No matter how good the planes are or what the military thinks of them, the deal will be tainted as a political pawn. The conservatives will be seen as bullies, the Liberals if they come back into power will pretend to 'review' the program, delay it and sign it anyway for more money. In the end everyone acts smug...sigh
Having lived in Canada for the past few years I can safely say that the public at large honestly doesnt care what equipment is bought as long as the purchase isnt botched. The system of government ensures that the kind of political games the Gen. mentions are the greatest threat to military spending. The public at large is for the most part quite supportive of the military, their reputation for good behavior and "peacekeeping" means that they have a relatively clean recent record (Rwanda not withstanding. The problem is largely that the past few aquisistion programs have been botched, the chinook debacle, the long winded sea king replacement the Gen. references, all left a bitter taste in the public consciousness. Now the government has used the threat of snap elections (and further instability) to bully the parliament into staying quiet on the F-35 deal. No matter how good the planes are or what the military thinks of them, the deal will be tainted as a political pawn. The conservatives will be seen as bullies, the Liberals if they come back into power will pretend to 'review' the program, delay it and sign it anyway for more money. In the end everyone acts smug...sigh
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