It’s time the Liberal government listens to Canadians and grounds its plans to buy new fighter jets. Last month, over 1,100 Canadians signed a parliamentary petition to cancel the competition, which was introduced in the House of Commons by Green Party MP Paul Manly. This new open letter builds on the growing national opposition to the fighter jet purchase. According to a recent NANOS poll, the majority of Canadians want our country’s role in the world to be a peacekeeper and mediator not a warfighter. Over the past 20 years, Canadian CF-18s have conducted thousands of airstrikes in Serbia, Libya, Syria and Iraq killing innocent people and destroying civilian infrastructure. Moreover, fighter jets are used to bomb other countries. Opponents of the fighter jet procurement also argue that federal funding would be better invested in programs that provide genuine security for Canadians like health care, affordable housing, reconciliation with Indigenous communities and climate action.
All international conflict can be responsibly dealt with through diplomacy and international law. However, former deputy minister of national defence Charles Nixon argued that the country does not need new fighter jets as there was no credible threat to Canada’s sovereignty. Prime Minister Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan claim that new fighter jets are needed to protect the sovereignty of the country and the security of Canadians. Though the purchase price is $19 billion, the life-cycle cost for the combat aircraft has been estimated as high as $77 billion. The fighter jet purchase is the second-most expensive federal procurement in Canadian history.
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