‘callous’ Chrétien

MacKay blames ‘callous’ Chrétien for helicopter woes\
Cyclones due in November still not ready
BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD
Canwest News Service
OTTAWA • Today’s Canadian Forces are feeling the effects of former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s “flippant and callous” 1993 decision to cancel the $4.8-billion contract to replace the military’s ageing fleet of Sea King helicopters, Defence Minister Peter MacKay charged yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with Canwest News Service, Mr. MacKay blamed delays in delivering the first in a new fleet of Sikorsky Cyclone shipborne helicopters squarely at the feet of previous Liberal governments.
One of Mr. Chrétien’s first acts as prime minister in 1993 was to cancel the previous Conservative government’s EH-10 contract to replace the Sea Kings, after deriding the Cormorant chopper as a “Cadillac” and a waste of taxpayers’ money during the federal election campaign that brought him to power.

The Sea King replacement was a political albatross for Mr. Chrétien during his 10 years in power. It wasn’t until his successor, Paul Martin, announced the $5-billion Sikorsky contract in 2004 that it looked like the air force would finally get new maritime helicopters to replace the 1960sera fleet that has become prone to breakdowns and a periodic embarrassment to the military.

The first new Sikorsky aircraft was due in November, but that deadline has come and gone, sparking reports that the delivery is now three years behind schedule.

Mr. MacKay told Canwest the delay has been more like nine to 11 months, but that, he said, is still not acceptable.
“It’s a tremendous, tremendous disappointment to see once again this vital piece of equipment may be delayed. And it can all go back to a single, solitary decision and a flippant and callous stroke of the pen,” Mr. MacKay said by telephone from Victoria.
“It was done to great political attention at the time, by former prime minister Chrétien, and as a direct result of that decision here we are again pulling ourselves out of a hole, playing catch-up.”

Mr. MacKay said the cancellation cost taxpayers $500million in penalties.
The Harper government is assessing whether it is prudent to start seeking financial penalties from Sikorsky for late delivery, Mr. MacKay said. His priority is to push Sikorsky to get “back on schedule,” and perhaps even add extra choppers to the one-a-month delivery schedule specified by the contract.

“We’re going to continue working with Sikorsky. We’re going to try to pin them down a little bit further on what the timelines are. There are penalties and clauses that will kick in.”
Mr. MacKay ruled out cancelling the Sikorsky contract and bringing back the EH101s, saying that in the end the Liberals eventually bought a good helicopter. Still, he accused the party of tying itself in knots to avoid opting for the EH-10 that they had rejected.

“To be political, which I am, that was the Liberal government swallowing itself whole, turning itself inside-out. They delayed it for a number of years again, for crass political reasons. It was short sighted, completely politically motivated and yet we came away with what was a pretty good aircraft.”

Mr. MacKay also disclosed that the Defence Department is in the initial stages of looking at “about a half a dozen possible replacement” options for eight of 18 old Aurora coastal patrol planes.

The air force is going ahead with structural upgrades of the remaining Auroras.

With a possible federal election looming, Mr. MacKay pledged that any future military procurement would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

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