Air force favoring American plane over Canadian aircraft puzzling.
Jobs at a Toronto-area airplane manufacturing plant are being put at risk by the military’s decision to award a sole-source contract to American-based Boeing. At a time when the Trudeau government is offering major financial incentives to land new manufacturing facilities in Canada, it’s perplexing that they are looking to exclude a Canadian firm from even competing.
In February, Public Services and Procurement Canada issued a request for information to replace Canada’s CP-140 Aurora, a plane first purchased in the 1980s as a marine patrol aircraft. The government said they wanted the Royal Canadian Airforce to be outfitted with what they called a Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft or CMMA.
On March 27, a statement was issued which said, “the government has determined that the P-8A Poseidon is the only currently available aircraft that meets all of the CMMA operational requirements.” The statement also said that the Canadian government had a letter to the American government asking for permission to buy the Boeing-built aircraft.
The government maintains that this letter doesn’t commit them to buying the P-8A Poseiden, an aircraft built on the 737 platform, but they are clearly moving in that direction.
Source: Toronto Sun
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