Canada is officially buying the F-35 fighter jet, ending the years-long search to replace the aging CF-18 fleet where it first began.
Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Monday that Canada reached an agreement with the United States and F-35 maker Lockheed Martin to buy 88 of the aircraft at an estimated cost of $19 billion.
Officials at a technical briefing before the formal announcement pegged the full cost of owning and operating the fighter jets over the next few decades at $70 billion.
“The F-35 advanced fighter aircraft fleet will ensure that our aviators have the long-term ability to defend the second-largest airspace in the world,” Anand said.
“It will help us to meet our Norad and NATO commitments and it will also deliver concrete economic benefits to our country.”
As first reported by The Canadian Press last month, Anand said Canada is buying an initial set of 16 F-35s and will place further orders over the coming years.
The first four aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2026, though officials say they will initially be located in the U.S. as the Canadian military prepares the necessary facilities.
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots and technicians will train at bases in the U.S. while those preparations are underway, with the F-35s scheduled to actually arrive in Canada no earlier than 2029.
The Canadian Press reported last month that the Defence Department had been authorized to spend $7 billion on an initial set of 16 F-35s and associated gear.
Officials confirmed in a briefing Monday that Canada will buy the 88 jets in a phased approach, with the initial price tag including infrastructure upgrades, spare parts and other one-time costs.
They also said Canada will end up paying the same as the United States — about US$85 million per plane — because it is one of eight partner countries that has been paying for the F-35’s development costs since 1997.
Canada has so far spent US$712 million to remain at the table with the U.S., Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government first committed to buying 65 F-35s without a competition in 2010, before concerns about the stealth fighter’s cost and capabilities forced the government back to the drawing board.
The Liberals promised in 2015 not to buy the F-35, but to instead launch an open competition to replace the CF-18s. They later planned to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornets without a competition as an “interim” measure until a full competition could be launched.
Some questioned that plan, suggesting the Liberals were trying to find a way to lock Canada in to the Super Hornet without opening itself up to a legal challenge from Lockheed Martin or any other jet makers.
But the government cancelled the plan after Boeing launched a trade dispute with Montreal aerospace firm Bombardier. Ottawa initiated the current bidding process in July 2019, and both the Super Hornet and F-35 were allowed to compete.
Asked about the Liberal government’s change of mind, Anand said: “The aircraft has matured. And we see now that many of our allies, eight countries in particular, are using the F-35.”
In the meantime, the government has been forced to spend hundreds of millions of additional dollars on the CF-18 fleet to keep it flying until a replacement is available. By 2032, the CF-18s will have been around for 50 years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2023.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
