Two Canadian judicial decisions released in late May remind us that national security is incompatible with democracy: the former almost always trumps the latter.
International relations, peace and conflict
This report responds to the Harper government's continued openness to the F-35 as a replacement for Canada's aging fleet of CF-18 fighter jets. With the exception of the F-35, all the aircraft currently under consideration have two engines. this difference has significant safety implications, particularly for pilots operating over Canada’s Arctic and vast maritime zones.
OTTAWA – A new report on the single-engine F-35 has just been released by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
One Dead Pilot was written by University of British Columbia political science professor Michael Byers, who recently won the $50,000 Donner Prize for his book International Law and the Arctic.
The cost of F-35s first became an issue in July 2010 when the government announced it would purchase 65 of the aircraft for a total of $16 billion including maintenance costs. After highly critical reports from the Parliamentary Budget Officer in 2011, and the Auditor General in 2012 the current anticipated total cost is now at $45.69 billion.
OTTAWA – A report on the cost of F-35s has just been released by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“The Plane That Ate the Canadian Military” was written by University of British Columbia political science professor Michael Byers.
I spy, you spy. . . In the world of big mining and big oil companies, it would seem that everybody spies.
In the September issue of the CCPA Monitor, I reported on the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA) spying on hundreds of millions of its citizens, as revealed by whistle-blower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Now it appears that the Canadian government, too, is engaged in surreptitiously spying on its citizens, in collaboration with the NSA.
OTTAWA – A report on the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) has just been released by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Blank Cheque: National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy puts Canadians at Risk was written by University of British Columbia political science professor Michael Byers and defence analyst Stewart Webb (a visiting research fellow at the Rideau Institute and research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives).
In 2010, the federal government committed itself to reinvigorating Canada’s shipbuilding industry. The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), estimated to cost $35 billion, aims to procure new ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and for the Canadian Coast Guard. In this report, the authors examine the structure of the NSPS—and find that it is seriously flawed. The authors also call on the government to alter course, and offer some recommendations that would introduce much more competition and accountability to the procurement strategy.
This report questions the government's planned procurement of 108 new heavily armoured “Close Combat Vehicles” (CCVs). The estimated cost of the CCV project is $2 billion, and reportedly, the Canadian Army does not need or want the vehicles.