The Quebec-based jet manufacturer Bombardier is calling on the federal government to launch a “fair competition” to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s surveillance planes.
The federal government signalled in March it’s considering sole-sourcing the contract to American aviation giant Boeing.
Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek told a parliamentary committee this week that while the project is not a done deal, the Department of National Defence has said the Boeing P-8A Poseidon is the only aircraft available that meets its needs.
Bombardier says it wants an open competition that would allow it to compete directly with Boeing for the contract.
‘May the best win’
“I have a very specific message for Boeing,” Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Bombardier’s executive VP for aircraft sales and defence, told CBC News.
“They claim they have the best aircraft, so I’m sure they’re not afraid to go into competition. So we welcome the competition with Boeing and may the best win.”
Sean Liedman, Boeing’s director of international business development for mobility and surveillance aircraft, said a competition seems unnecessary because Boeing’s plane “is the only aircraft that meets the requirements.”
“I’m not sure there’s a need for competition,” he added.
This isn’t the first time the two aerospace companies have butted heads over market share.
Six years ago, Boeing launched a trade challenge against Bombardier with the U.S. Department of Commerce claiming Bombardier’s CSeries jets were heavily subsidized by Ottawa. The department hit Bombardier with heavy anti-dumping duties that were later overturned by the United States International Trade Commission.
The ensuing battle prompted a frustrated Liberal government to later shelve a plan to sole-source the purchase of Boeing Super Hornet jet fighters.
Canada made a formal request to the U.S. in March for an offer for “up to 16 P-8A Poseidon aircraft and associated equipment and initial servings, as well as access to intellectual and technical data.”
Jaczek told a parliamentary committee this week the project is in the “options analysis” stage and the government hasn’t committed at this point to purchasing the P-8A Poseidon.
“Having said that, the Department of Defence has told us that at this point in time the P-8A Poseidon is the only currently available aircraft that meets all of the Canadian multi-mission aircraft operational requirements,” Jaczek said Monday. “That’s what they’re telling us.”
CBC News asked Boeing if it was worried about Bombardier derailing a sole-source contract. Boeing didn’t answer directly, saying instead that Canada has an “opportunity” to “capitalize on an off-the-shelf airplane.”
Boeing brought in a P-8A Poseidon to put on display at a private hanger around the corner from CANSEC. (Toni Choueri/CBC News)
Boeing flew one of its P-8A Poseidons to Ottawa to put on display this week outside CANSEC, Canada’s global defence and security trade show.
Boeing has delivered 160 P-8A Poseidons to six customers around the world, and those aircraft have logged more than half-a-million flight hours in a decade of service, said Liedman.
“We also think it’s an affordable option for Canada as well,” he said. “This is truly a proven, off-the-shelf platform that requires no investment in development.”
Bombardier said Boeing’s plane comes from a 1970s design and argues that its proposed rival — the Global 6500 — would contain cutting-edge technology.
Bombardier and General Dynamics released this cross-section of the proposed next-generation surveillance aircraft it wants to pitch to the federal government. (Submitted by Bombardier)
Bombardier and its partner General Dynamics threw a press conference at CANSEC this week to unveil a mock-up of that proposed surveillance aircraft and its submarine-hunting technology.
“This plane burns 30 per cent less fuel than its closest competitor,” said Gallagher. “It flies higher, it flies faster, it stays longer on target.”
Bombardier and General Dynamics said their pitch would keep jobs in Canada. The planes would be largely built in Toronto and then head to Montreal for final assembly, said Gallagher.
“If they go and move that work outside of Canada through a sole-source competition, some of those jobs will actually disappear. And this work will actually generate thousands of jobs in Canada as a result of it being awarded here and built in Canada.” said Joel Houde, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Mission Systems-International.
Boeing said its aircraft also would create spinoff employment in Canada because the planes require commercial services for training and maintenance, along with repairs that would be beyond the capabilities of air force technicians.
Defence procurement expert Dave Perry said there’s an “interesting dynamic” at play here.
On one hand, he said, the P-8A Poseidon is “so mature the production line is apparently close to the end.” On the other hand, he said, the military has talked about enhancing its “interoperability” and “interchangeability” with close allies — and several of Canada’s key defence partners, including the U.S. and Australia, use the Poseidon.
U.S. Navy personnel look at screens aboard the U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft while searching for Argentina’s ARA San Juan submarine in the Southern Atlantic in 2017. (Mauricio Cuevas/The Associated Press)
“If you were to buy the same platform that many of your allies are operating, you would get not just interoperability and an ability to work closely together, but you would get genuine interchangeability,” said Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Bombardier is proposing to build a plane with sensors and integrated systems it has yet to “fully assemble” together in one of its products, Perry said.
“So there’s an interesting juxtaposition between desires for interoperability on one hand and past Canadian economics and industrial strength and focus on the other,” Perry said.
The government has said its final decision will be based on price, availability and impact on Canadian industry.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
