The murky plot to send bombs – or facsimiles of them – from Yemen to synagogues in the United States offers a chilling reminder that the war on terror is never far from home. But politically, it couldn’t come at a better time for the Harper government.
Canadian F-18 fighter jets escorted one of the cargo planes with a suspicious package through Canadian airspace en route to John F. Kennedy airport in New York on Friday, as part of Canada’s shared responsibility for defending North American airspace under NORAD.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he had spoken with Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl about the incident.
“As the Prime Minister has consistently stated, security threats to the United States are security threats to Canada,” Mr. Toews said in a statement. “The Canadian government remains fully engaged with the Obama Administration on efforts to combat terrorist threats. We face the same threats and share the same concerns.”
The more partisan elements of the Harper government were less circumspect.
“Whether it is the CF-18s or the F-35s, Canada's air force needs the right equipment to protect Canadian airspace,” Dimitri Soudas, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, said in an email Friday night.
“Michael Ignatieff's Liberals and their coalition partners would rather use kites to defend Canada than fighter jets,”
The Liberals were not amused: "Even kites would have fewer strings attached than the Harper Government's 16 billion untendered deal," Mike OShaughnessy, Liberal press secretary, retorted.
The Liberals said this week that they would hold an open competition for a replacement fighter, perhaps choosing one that lacked the F-35’s stealth capabilities and accompanying $16-billion price tag.
But these are fine distinctions, in what is turning into a bare-knuckle brawl over the aircraft purchase. What matters is that as the debate raged over the F-35, Canadian fighter jets were in the sky protecting Canadian airspace. Those who say there is no need at all for replacements must explain what they would have Canada do the next time a similar situation arises.
