Canada’s military is refusing to release internal records about an image of its air force commander signing part of the country’s first F-35, as Ottawa reconsiders how many American fighters it should buy.
Newspaper Clashes With Canadian Government
The Ottawa Citizen reported that a military photographer snapped a photo of Lt. Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet signing a fuselage bulkhead set to be used on the fighter jet at the Lockheed Martin assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas.
These kinds of pictures are usually released to the public, but this one was revealed only after the newspaper submitted an Access to Information request.
The Department of National Defense (DND) released only a grainy copy of the image and is now refusing to release any other records surrounding it.
An anonymous source in the DND told The Citizen that officials want to divert attention from any events that could suggest the military favors the F-35 amid the review of Ottawa’s purchase.
Review Remains Open
Last March, Prime Minister Mark Carney kickstarted a review of the purchase. Almost 18 months on, Ottawa is still weighing “all options, including a mix of fighter aircraft.” The review began at a time when ties with Washington were beginning to sour amid President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada.
The Swedish firm Saab is still pitching itself as an alternative, saying it would create thousands of jobs by building Gripen fighters on Canadian soil.
The United Kingdom is already helping fund the delivery of 16 of these jets to Ukraine.
Brazil is also building Gripens with Saab, while Stockholm recently pledged $303 million toward Saab’s future planning.
Canada remains committed to purchasing its first 16 F-35As, but whether it will buy the other 72 planned jets.
The Fuhr Question
Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defense procurement, has already rebuked military officials for discussing the contest publicly. “I don’t think some of these things are necessarily helpful,” he told the Citizen in July. “It’s in a review. We shouldn’t be talking about it.”
That warning followed several episodes. NORAD deputy commander Lt. Gen. Iain Huddleston recently called a pro-F-35 LinkedIn post from a Lockheed Martin-linked lobbyist “insightful.” Then there was Crista-Lynn Ferguson, DND’s director general of fighter capability, who handed out custom F-35 business cards at an Ottawa defense forum.
DND claimed Ferguson personally purchased the cards and had “voluntarily” stopped using them. Spokesperson Suzanne Lalande maintained the cards did not “communicate a position on the F-35 review or any related government decision-making process.” Military police are separately investigating who leaked internal records promoting the F-35 over the Gripen.
Could a Mixed Fleet Work?
Fuhr is not neutral. The ex-CF-18 pilot was on record in 2011 as saying the F-35 might be a fine aircraft, yet “not the right plane for Canada.”
These days, he is in charge of reforming procurement and has told CBC News that Canada will be “more resilient and less reliant.” As for the rest of the world, “We have friends in every time zone,” he says, “and they all want to do business with Canada.”
He also rejects the RCAF’s argument that two fighter types would be unmanageable. “Many of our allies … run a mixed fleet with fighters,” Fuhr said. “I don’t necessarily subscribe to the fact that we can’t do it. We certainly can.”
The head of NORAD has complicated the RCAF’s case. “Frankly, we don’t need fifth [generation] to defend our borders,” Gen. Gregory Guillot told U.S. senators in March. He said those aircraft were “better used overseas where their stealth, air-to-ground weapons and penetration capability are needed.” Fuhr’s response was pointed: “He is the commander of NORAD. So I think what he says, I take him at his word.”
Writing for the Toronto Star last week, columnist David Olive complained that Washington is attempting to “bully Canada” into purchasing the 88 U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets it previously ordered under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Then there is the matter of the size of the required financial investment. Canada’s Auditor General has put the tab for the acquisition at C$27.7 billion, up from C$19 billion. On top of that, another C$5.5 billion will be needed for arms and infrastructure.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
