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The problem with their pledge is they also promised a full and open competition

The problem with that pledge is the Liberals also promised a full and open competition to select Canada’s next fighter. Shortly after winning that election, the Liberals seemed to have suddenly realized that a competition can be neither full nor open once you’ve pre-emptively ruled out a major and serious contender. Further compounding the Liberals’ difficulty is the fact that the F-35—despite its execrable development process and the prime minister’s breezy dismissal that this particular advanced fighter “does not work”—has finally begun to enter service with the United States and some of Canada’s closest other allies. More integration work is needed, but the plane is formidable, and is not appreciably more expensive (over the full life cycle of any jet fleet) than other options.

This is not an endorsement of the F-35. But the facts are clear: the plane at least warrants close and fair consideration. The Liberals, though, seem dead set against that, and are going to increasingly bizarre lengths to avoid making the only logical decision: an open competition that includes the F-35. First, they proposed an interim purchase of a small fleet of F-18 Super Hornets, a more modern and advanced jet than the similarly named CF-18 Hornets we already operate. The case for this interim fleet has never been satisfactorily made; if Canada is short jets, as the government maintains (and we have no trouble believing), then the proper course of action is to proceed with the full and final fleet replacement without delay. An interim purchase, at great expense, will only suck up precious dollars and postpone the urgently needed final replacement.