By Staff
January 9th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Who knew?
During her New Year’s levee, Burlington MP Karina Gould found two demonstrators with a large banner standing in front of her demanding that the federal government not purchase F35 fighter jets.
Demonstrators disrupt MP’s Levee
A group of demonstrators were also outside the Art Gallery protesting the government’s decision to buy 88 of the aircraft.
Gould is reported to have invited the demonstrators a few minutes to make their point – when they decided not to leave the room two men approached the podium to escort them out.
Both were plain clothes RCMP officers
So – Karina Gould gets RCMP protection. How long has this been going on ? In Burlington.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward was at the event. Did she also have a security detail?
So Mary, the “Prince of Misinformation” (PM), divisive and wedge politics says the F35 was unreliable, with drama teaching and white water rafting instructing on his CV ,when the Canadian Military already endorsed it.
So after 9 years of service in the US Air Force and entering service with the US Navy its unreliable? Really, is that what you believe from the Ottawa talking points?
I’ve provided some facts below. Note that fighter jets are sold to governments on a “value proposition” basis meaning the life cycle cost of maintaining old equipment is equal to or greater than the purchase price plus operation costs of new equipment on a present worth basis.
There are also “Industrial Benefits” programs where supply of components come from in Country to create Canadian jobs and and provide a robust supply chain for other NATO partners.
The F-35 first flew in 2006 and entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B in July 2015, followed by the U.S. Air Force F-35A in August 2016 and the U.S. Navy F-35C in February 2019. The aircraft was first used in combat in 2018 by the Israeli Air Force.
First flight: 15 December 2006; 15 years ago (F-35A)
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
Number built: 860+ as of November 2022[update]
Produced: 2006–present
As Joe pointed out this has been a huge cost to Canadian tax payers as a result of the PM’s wedge politics and propagating misinformation.
Please check your facts next time.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Canadian procurement is a defence procurement project of the Canadian government to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), a process started in 1997. The F-35 procurement has been a source of considerable controversy in public policy circles in Canada since the federal government announced its intention to purchase the aircraft in 2010. In April 2012, with the release of a highly critical Auditor General of Canada report on the failures of the government’s F-35 program, the procurement was labelled a national “scandal” and “fiasco” by the media. In a December 2014 analysis of the procurement Ottawa Citizen writer Michael Den Tandt cited the Harper government’s “ineptitude, piled upon ineptitude, and bureaucracy, and inertia, driving a lack of progress”.
On 16 July 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government announced that it intended to procure 65 F-35s to replace the existing 80 McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornets for C$9 billion (C$16 billion with all ancillary costs, such as maintenance, included) with deliveries planned for 2016. Former Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, argued that these ancillary cost estimates were grossly exaggerated because they included the pilots salaries, and fuel for the aircraft, which were never before factored into procurement costs. The stated intention was to sign a sole-sourced, untendered contract with Lockheed Martin. This, combined with the government’s refusal to provide detailed costing of the procurement, became one of the major causes of the finding of contempt of Parliament.
The F-35 did not feature in the Harper government’s federal budget tabled in March 2012 and was not mentioned in the Conservative Party 2015 election platform.
On 19 October 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada under Justin Trudeau won a majority in part on a campaign promise to not buy the F-35, but instead “one of the many, lower-priced options that better match Canada’s defence needs”.
A formal competition was launched to select a new fighter, which included the F-35. On 28 March 2022, the government announced that the competition process had selected the F-35A and that negotiations would begin with Lockheed Martin to purchase 88 aircraft.[16] By 20 December 2022, the Department of National Defence received approval to spend $7 billion on 16 F-35As and related equipment, including training systems, potential weapons and support infrastructure.
Source – Wikipedia
Note
Harper government went with an sole sourced untendered contract.
Harper held in contempt of parliament.
Are you going to defend the Harper process, or lack thereof, its decision, it’s contempt of parliament?
I could not agree more Carol, there has been tremendous progress with MP Gould’s government.
Inflation is running at record highs not seen since the 1980’s. We are seeing the most rapid rise in interest rates in decades.
The cost of housing has escalated the fastest it ever has since 2015 when the Liberals took over and started running deficit budgets (basically money printing and hence more money in circulation driving up the price of assets).
Gould’s government has raised Canada’s debt more than ALL previous governments. (Wrap your head around that one).
We have more people using food banks than ever.
We have poor people asking for medically assisted death because they are too poor and life is too miserable.
We have a 40% increase in drug overdoses since 2015.
The Libs have more ethics violations than any prior government.
The average mortgage payment is a greater percentage of the average paycheck compared to any other time in Canadian history.
Canada is at the bottom when it comes to investment and GDP growth in the G20.
The Liberals have spent more on consultants than (McKinsey and Company) than any other government – 30 times more than the previous Conservative government! This is a global US firm with tight ties to the Liberal Party, I’ve worked in the US with consulting engineering firms and its common to see hourly rates of $300 to $500/hour and I would estimate executives at McKinsey are billing out to close to $1,000/hour CDN.
We now have the city of Burlington raising taxes by 7% because of inflationary pressures. Tremendous progress indeed!
Full disclosure, we own rental properties and other assets, I should vote Liberal because their monetary policies and fiscal policies are awesome when you own assets, BUT, it’s horrible for average Canadians.
With the City increasing taxes by 7% I’m sure me and many other landlords will need to go the Landlord Tennent board to increase rents above what is allowed by rent control as a result. It’s a business, we run very nice properties and look after things, and want to continue that model.
All ties back to horrible Liberal fiscal policy and clueless monetary policy.
I deal in math, facts and say-do ratio, not vapid remarks and virtue signaling.
SMOKE SCREEN on the real issue. Harper says “Yes” to the F35 in 2010, Justin Trudeau says “Nyet” in 2015, but “OUI” in 23. How much more will “NYET” cost Canadians for the same plane?” Trudeau said in June 2016. “They clung to an aircraft (the F-35) that does not work and is far from working.” When are voters going to catch on??????
Back then the plane did not work. Now a decade later they do work. They have matured and been improved. So now it is a completely different animal. There is nothing wrong with a person changing their mind on any topic. As a public figure it takes tremendous courage to do so. So I guess back in 2010/11 you supported the Harper govt purchase decision. Do you no longer support the purchase of the same plane, but much improved and now reliable?
Like I said Conservative town
Disappointing to see people who don’t believe in progress….
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I would congratulate everyone on a nice Liberal love in at our local art gallery.
Sorry Pepper, but this is a fluff article and let’s get to the heart of the matter.
Our PM, in 2015 lambasted the Conservative government over the procurement of the F35 Joint Strike Fighters. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ucnPQR-s4VE
Seven years later and flip flop, Canada is now buying 88 F35 Jets at $19B, which was announced by Ottawa yesterday, and is misleading as the Parliamentary budget officer has estimated these will/have costed Canadians $70B.
65 Jets were ready to be procured in 2014 at $15B and since the government has wasted time and money floundering on this issue and putting our military pilots up in old outdated aircraft.
Now for our MP, most recently she has overseen the passport office which has been a colossal disaster with tremendous wait times, her solution, bottle water and lawn chairs for those waiting in line was comical.
How about the millions wasted on our bid to the UN Security Council, and could not answer strait forward questions in Parliament. How much did the government spend to lose a UN Security Council seat? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeV49vmxeXg
Like her boss she does not seem to understand when the Kings Official Opposition asks a question in Parliament, they are asking on the basis of more people in Canada than actually voted for the governing in party.
Also in an earlier portfolio, nothing was accomplished on getting or improving the water situation in First Nations communities.
Yes, she is good at announcements, good at giving out tax payer’s money, but, the heavy lifting and real work leaves much to question.
In 2019 Karina won 34,898 votes, in 2021 this dropped to 31,602 and Emily Brown was not far behind at 25,842 votes. Not an impressive trend and I think people in Burlington are starting to wake up.
Mr. Gamble, you are confusing Karina with our Conservative MPP Emily Brown, who is clearly in hiding and who wouldn’t be with a premier who is going against everything he said he wouldn’t do.
Karina is very available and holds events and meetings often. That’s why even in this Conservative town, she has been re-elected. You need to attend one of her meetings (i,e, the levee) to understand her commitment to Burlington and the great work that she is doing as the Minister for Families. She is a beacon of light in this difficult environment.
I think you mean Conservative MPP Natalie Pierre.
As for a beacon of light isn’t Karina responsible for the passport fiasco?
Didn’t she run on balancing the budget by 2019?
Carol (& Mary),
Newsflash Emily Brown is not the MPP for Burlington and this is not a conversation about provincial politics.
If we want to talk about broken promises lets talk Trudeau’s broken promise for meaningful electoral reform and his well documented personal resolute opposition to the F35.
I harbor no animosity towards Ms. Gould whatsoever and have no doubt that she works very hard. I have met with Ms. Gould one on one and attended meetings. This liberal government however is past its best before date.
It is this top down approach to governing that is fostering dissent. This is why protestors show up. They feel they have no voice and cannot be heard because no one is listening. It is much the same provincially and municipally.
A new year levee is not an appropriate open forum for input from citizens on the issues. In my opinion open public meetings whether they are in person or virtual are a necessary part of a healthy democracy and they should have an agenda.
Here are a few ideas; pre-budget input, provincial health transfers, pharmaceutical shortages, immigration, low vaccination rates, inflation, interest rates etc.
I challenge Ms. Gould to start holding regular community meetings with her constituents on the important issues rather than just attending select venues for the most part.
Who new?
When elected governments take little input from citizens especially from those with divergent views and govern top down; they know what’s best. (When was the last time Ms. Gould held a public meeting virtual or otherwise asking for citizens concerns and issues)
When we are governed by ideology and not rational, objective deciion making and create classes of citizens to further divide the nation can this not be foreseen?
If you Google the PMs online daily itinerary it is evident that the PM rarely if ever can announce specifically where he will be and attends only curated events with the loyal present I suspect every cabinet minister is in the same predicament which is shameful.
I will ask though as no explanation has been offered as to why these protesters were removed. Were they unruly?
Mr. Gamble. The event was MP Gould’s annual levy. Is that not exactly the type of electorate interaction you accuse her of not having? You are probably confusing Ms Gould a hard working MP who represents her Burlington riding exceptionally well, with Emily Brown. Ms Brown would not debate Gould and was herself harder to find than Waldo.
Very poor attempt at deflection Mary
Mr. Gamble. I was not attempting deflection. Simply calling you out. You say MP Gould does not meet or interact with her constituents. Yet it was at her annual constituency levee that the demonstration took place. That is not a deflection, but is a retort to your incorrect statement.
Why would they not have a protective detail. Particularly Karina Gould, who is a federal government cabinet minister. One can be sure if she was to be attacked by a demonstrator and was without a protective detail, the editor would be first to ask why was there a lack of security.
Editor’s note: You may disagree with me Ms Hill – but you should not assume what I will do.
This group was protesting outside the AGB with banners and leaflets. As Karina Gould started her speech, 2 individuals came in and started talking over her. They stated their objection to aiding the Ukraine with weapons. Karina stopped talking and allowed them to make their point and then they were escorted out. Our MP handled this situation with her usual class and proceeded with her speech. Despite this disruption her levee was well attended and was a very positive start to the New Year.
Given the current environment I am pleased that there was security there should anything untoward have happened. The protest was clearly planned to disrupt this annual event. I am sure that the RCMP plainclothesmen were there as a precaution. Given the continuing abuse that politicians have to take, perhaps protection is becoming more warranted.