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Canada and the F-35: What are we buying, and how is it different from last time?

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Canada and the F-35

After more than a decade of partisan politics and government mismanagement, Canada is buying the F-35 fighter jet. But while the announcement has been welcomed by some, questions remain. Here’s what you need to know:

What is Canada buying, and why?

Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Monday that Canada will purchase 88 F-35As to replace its 76 CF-18 fighter jets. Canada needs a new fighter jet because the CF-18s, which were built in the 1980s, were supposed to have been already retired. To keep them flying until the F-35 arrives, the government is spending more than $1 billion. The F-35 is expected to field state-of-the-art technology, including advanced sensors and a design that makes it hard for adversaries to detect.

While some activists have questioned the need for a new fighter jet, defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute said such aircraft are critical to defending Canada’s interests at home and abroad.

“Aside from obligations to our allies, we have an obligation to the Canadian population to defend our own country,” he said.

What version of the F-35 is Canada buying?

There are three types of F-35: the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C. The primary difference is the space each requires to take off and land, which also affects how much fuel and weaponry they can carry.

Canada plans to buy the F-35A. It is the most common version and uses normal runways and landing strips. The F-35B can take off from extremely short runways and land vertically. The F-35C is designed to operate on aircraft carriers.

Some Canadians may have seen a video posted on social media last month in which an F-35 flipped over while coming straight down for a landing. That was an F-35B.

“The B model has its own unique systems and controls,” said Richard Aboulafia, one of the world’s leading F-35 analysts. “It’s a very different aircraft compared to the A model.”

What about all the problems with the F-35?

Experts say the F-35 has come a long way since 2010, when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government first announced plans to buy the aircraft without a competition. At that time, there were countless reports about cost overruns, technical problems and whether the F-35 could fight.

However, 17 other countries have decided to buy the plane, including fellow Arctic nations such as the United States, Norway and Denmark. So far, 900 F-35s have been built and delivered.

“The F-35 debate ended a long time ago,” Aboulafia says.

There are nonetheless still some concerns. Officials have said that Canada will be getting the latest version of the F-35 in 2026, known as Block 4. Blocks are a way to categorize rounds of upgrades, which University of Calgary defence analyst Timothy Choi compares to the way computer operating systems are regularly upgraded.

In this case, Block 4 F-35s are expected to include the latest software and hardware capabilities. However, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the equivalent of Canada’s auditor general, said in a report last year that the development of Block 4 has been plagued by problems, and Choi said it’s an open question whether they will be ready by 2026.

“That is a big, giant upgrade for the F-35 that has been in the works over the last decade or so, and it has run into a number of developmental delays and cost overruns,” he said. “That is one of the main causes of concern.”

What about the cost?

Canada is one of eight partners in the development of the F-35, meaning it has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars toward developing the plane. One of the benefits is that the partners pay the same amount per plane — which officials say is currently US$85 million, or about $114 million.

The price has actually come down as more of the jets are built. But there are growing indications the cost per plane could start to climb as a result of inflation, supply chain issues and other factors.

“The cost had been coming steadily down over the last 10 or 15 years,” said Aboulafia. “But inflation seems to be hitting all defence programs.”

He added that exchange rates between the Canadian and American dollar will also be a factor.

Defence officials pegged the full cost of owning and operating 88 F-35s over the next 30 years at around $70 billion. That represents a significant increase over the $45 billion that officials said it would cost to own and operate a fleet of 65 F-35s in 2014, when the Harper government pushed pause on its original plan to buy the planes.

Perry said more planes and higher rates of inflation would account for some of the $25-billion difference. However, he said the Liberal government needs to explain why Canada is paying so much more, particularly given that one of the main criticisms of the Harper government’s plan was a lack of transparency over costs.

“The controversy in 2010 largely related to costs and the auditor general and the parliamentary budget officer coming in with different numbers and saying that the full life cycle cost picture hadn’t been itemized,” he said.

“And then you have an announcement (on Monday) with much higher numbers. I think parts of that are relatively understandable. But it’s pretty curious to me that wasn’t actually spelled out.”

What else do we need to know?

There are several other uncertainties about the decision to buy the F-35s. Aboulafia describes the purchase schedule as relatively ambitious, with Canada planning to receive 18 F-35s per year between 2029 and 2032.

“No foreign customer has ever gotten, so far, to 18 per year,” he said.

The government also needs to upgrade Canada’s two fighter jet bases in Cold Lake, Alta., and Bagotville, Que., before the F-35 can operate on Canadian soil. Those upgrades will also include modernizing the military’s information networks, and are supposed to be finished by 2029. Given Canada’s record on military procurement, Choi said he has concerns about the timelines.

As for the economic benefits of the deal, the government says Canadian companies will be able to bid on billions of dollars in contracts associated with building and maintaining the hundreds of jets that will be built and operated over the next few decades.

Perry said the decision to buy the plane does open the door to more opportunities, but that because of the nature of the F-35 partnership with other allies, there is no guarantee of work or economic spinoffs like with other military procurements.

“That whole relationship is really complex,” he said. “We’ll have to watch how that all evolves over time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.

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As sports betting addiction takes hold in Brazil, the government moves to crack down

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SAO PAULO (AP) — “King” doesn’t disclose his real name. Even clients of his Sao Paulo newsstand have to call him by his moniker. The Brazilian online sports gambling addict lowered his profile after a loan shark threatened to put bullets in his head if he didn’t pay up.

Broke and embarrassed, King sought treatment and support earlier this year.

“I was once addicted to slot machines, but then sports betting was so easy that I changed. I got carried away all the time,” he told The Associated Press.

King’s story is that of many vulnerable Brazilians in recent years. The country has become the third-biggest market in the world for sports betting, following the U.S. and the U.K., a report by data analysis company Comscore said last year. But unlike those countries, rampant advertising and sponsorship have been coupled with an unregulated market. The government is now — belatedly, some say — striving to get a handle on the epidemic.

On a recent evening, King’s Gamblers Anonymous meeting took place in an improvised classroom inside a church, with coffee and cookies to keep everyone awake, and supportive messages scrawled onto the blackboard. One that’s become ubiquitous in Brazil and beyond: “Only for today I will avoid the first bet.”

King and other attendees, all Christian, started a prayer and the meeting began.

King said his financial problems arose from his addiction to online sports betting, chiefly on soccer.

“I miss the adrenaline rush when I don’t bet,” he said before the gathering. “I have managed to stop for a couple of months, but I know that if I do it once again, even a small bet, it will all come back.”

Driven by the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was a key driver for Brazilians embracing sports betting. King said he transformed almost every sale during that time into a bet. His hook was the non-stop advertising on TV, radio, social media as well as sponsorship of local soccer teams’ jerseys. He asked for bank loans to pay his gambling debts and then, to cover those, went to the moneylender. His total debt now amounts to 85,000 reais ($15,000) — impossible to pay off with his monthly income of 8,000 reais.

Digging oneself out of debt in Brazil is especially daunting with its sky-high interest rates. Loans from Brazilian banks could add interest of almost 8% per month to the borrowed sum, and from loan sharks could be even more.

Four Gamblers Anonymous meetings attended by the AP in October featured discussions about difficulties paying down debts, forcing working-class members to postpone housing payments and cancel family vacations.

Some members of impoverished Brazilian families have used welfare money for betting instead of paying for groceries and housing, official data suggests. In August, beneficiaries of Brazil’s flagship program Bolsa Familia spent 3 billion reais ($530 million) on sports betting, according to a report from the central bank. That was more than 20% of the program’s total outlay in the month.

A host of gambling related problems

Sports betting was made legal in 2018 in a bill signed by former President Michel Temer. The subsequent turmoil has recently been setting off alarm bells, with addicts venting on social media and media reports of people losing huge sums.

On Oct. 1, the economy ministry prevented more than 2,000 betting companies from operating in Brazil for having failed to provide all the required documents. Soccer-loving President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in an interview on Oct. 17 that he will shut down the entire market in Brazil if his administration’s new regulations — presented at the end of July— fail to work. And Brazil’s Senate on Oct. 25 opened an investigation into betting companies, focusing on crime and addiction.

“There’s tax evasion, money laundering of organized crime, the use of influencers to trick people into betting. These companies need to be audited,” Sen. Soraya Thronicke, who proposed the inquiry, told journalists in Brasilia.

Sérgio Peixoto, a ride-sharing app driver in Rio, is one of many lower-middle-income Brazilians who have reduced their spending due to sports betting debt. Peixoto’s debt currently amounts to 25,000 reais ($4,400). His monthly income is four times less than that.

“It stopped being a game, it wasn’t fun. I just wanted to get the money back, so I lost even more,” said Peixoto, 26. “I could have invested that money. It would surely have given me more benefits.

Pressure to bet

Pressure on people to gamble is everywhere. Current and former soccer players, including Vinicius Júnior, Ronaldo Nazário and Roberto Rivellino, are among the poster boys for local and foreign brands. All but one of the top-tier soccer clubs have betting companies among their main sponsors, with their name and logo emblazoned on their kits. There have been cases of kids and teenagers setting up accounts using their parents’ personal information and money, multiple local media outlets have reported.

Brazil’s economy ministry estimates that Brazil’s sports betting market had $21 billion in transactions last year, a 71% increase compared with the first year of the pandemic, 2020.

The ministry’s newly presented regulations include facial recognition systems for gamblers to bet, the identification of a single bank account for transactions involving sports betting, new protections against hackers and the government-authorized domain, bet.br, which will host all betting sites that are legal in Brazil. Once they are in place, come January, between 100 and 150 betting companies will continue to operate in the South American nation.

The changes in Brazil have prompted some companies to take preemptive action. A report by Yield Sec, a technical intelligence platform for online marketplaces, said several betting companies voluntarily restricted their operations in different places after the latest editions of the European Championships and Copa America in the hopes of presenting “the best possible license application face to the Brazilian authorities.”

Magnho José Santos de Sousa, the president of the Legal Gambling Institute, a betting think tank, said Brazil is currently “invaded by illegal websites that have licenses in Malta, Curação, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom.”

De Sousa expressed hope that the new regulations for advertising, responsible gambling and qualification of sports betting companies will transform the country’s deregulated arena into a more serious one that doesn’t exploit the vulnerable.

“The whole operation could turn from water into wine,” he said.

Gamblers Anonymous in high demand

Meantime, the demand for Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Sao Paulo has grown so much in recent years that the weekly gathering, in place since the 1990s, was no longer enough. Many groups have added a second day in the week to help new people recover, mostly sports bettors.

Earlier in October, a group on Sao Paulo’s northern edge admitted a man who was struggling with sports betting and card games. The 13 other people in the room stressed that he wasn’t alone.

“Welcome,” one long-time attendee said, in a greeting that has become a regular for the group. “Today, you are the most important person here.”

___

Dumphreys reported from Rio de Janeiro.



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Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman improves to 6-0 at mixed curling nationals

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SAINT CATHARINES, Ont. – Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman remained undefeated on Wednesday with a 7-4 win over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Trent Skanes at the Canadian mixed curling championship.

After going down 3-1 through four ends, Ackerman (6-0) outscored Skanes (3-3) 6-1 the rest of the way, including three points in the seventh end.

Alberta’s Kurt Alan Balderston also earned a win, defeating New Brunswick’s Charlie Sullivan 9-2 in another matchup in the final draw.

The win improved Balderston’s record to 4-2 and sits in third in Pool B.

The top four teams from each pool will play four more games against the survivors from the other pool. The remaining three teams from the pool will play three more seeding games to help set the rankings for next year’s event.

The championship final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Oilers fall 4-2 to Golden Knights in McDavid’s return from injury

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EDMONTON – Noah Hanifin had a pair of goals as the Vegas Golden Knights won their first road game of the season, coming from behind to shock the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday.

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists and Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights (9-3-1), who have won two in a row and six of their last seven. The Knights entered the game 0-3-1 on the road this year.

Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman replied for the Oilers (6-7-1), who have lost two straight despite getting captain Connor McDavid back from injury earlier than expected for the game.

Adin Hill made 27 saves for Vegas, while Stuart Skinner managed 31 stops for Edmonton.

Takeaways

Golden Knights: With an assist on the Knights’ second goal, William Karlsson has recorded at least a point in all five games he has played this season (two goals, four assists).

Oilers: McDavid was a surprise starter for the Oilers, coming back just nine days after suffering an ankle injury in Columbus and initially being expected to miss two to three weeks. The star forward came into the contest with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak versus the Golden Knights, but was held pointless on the night.

Key moment

With just 48.4 seconds left to play, the Golden Knights won a race to the corner and Ivan Barbashev was able to send it out to a hard-charging Hanifin, who sent a shot glove-side that beat Skinner for his second goal of the third period and third of the season.

Key stat

It was Hyman’s third goal in the last four games after the veteran forward went scoreless in his first 10 games this season following a 54-goal campaign last year. Hyman now has five goals in his last six games against Vegas.

Up next

Golden Knights: Head to Seattle to face the Kraken on Friday.

Oilers: Travel to Vancouver on a quick one-game trip to clash with the Canucks on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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