Liberals, NDP talk security, safety, F-35s

On the other hand, the Boeing Super Hornet’s fly away price is around $65 million at an 80-cent dollar, with the possibility that a large proportion of the maintenance can be done in Canada, the Liberals said in the document. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the F-35’s capabilities would help the Air Force, including in its mission to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“The Conservative government never actually justified or explained why they felt Canada needed a fifth-generation fighter”.

Whether the line was something Harper had prepared or just said off the cuff, one-liners are an essential part of a leader’s tool kit leading up to debates, as they can serve to crystallize complex policy ideas in a way that stick in people’s minds. He also said the procurement process will ensure the bids guarantee industrial benefits for Canadian companies, something he said the Tories’ sole-sourced plan for the F-35 failed to do.

It didn’t take long for Defence Minister Jason Kenney to fire back at Trudeau’s comments, tweeting out on Sunday afternoon that the Liberal leader had made a “dishonest, damaging attack on Canada’s defence capability, promising to cut our air defences”.

Mulcair, standing in the middle between Harper to his left and Trudeau to his right, responded.

“[Trudeau] has indicated that we do not need that capacity in our air force”.

An independent analysis commissioned by a federal government secretariat said the F-35 would cost around $44 billion over its four-decade lifetime once everything from fuel to pilot salaries and disposal was calculated.

However, the Super Hornet “is merely used as an illustration of cost savings”, the party said, “and is not indicative of which aircraft would win a truly open and transparent competition”.

The Conservative government announced about a year ago it was extending the life of the CF-18s until 2025.

Mulcair calls the move a measure of fairness that is long overdue. He didn’t rule out purchasing the F-35.

Mulcair also announced that an NDP government, if elected, will apologize and “make amends” to former servicemen and women who were forced out of the military over their sexual orientation.

Pier 21 was also the first point of contact in Canada for numerous 50,000 Hungarian refugees the country accepted after that country’s uprising against the Soviets in 1956.

On Saturday, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said Syrians fleeing the conflict in the region would be presumed to be convention refugees under the United Nations Refugee Agency in order to streamline their applications – a two-year, $25-million commitment aimed at slashing wait times from three years to 15 months. They would have acted in ways that were reckless and irresponsible. – Mulcair on Harper’s handling of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made his first stop in the province last evening, speaking to a room of nearly 600 supporters.