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April 12, 2004

Whether one is an advocate of increased resources directed towards military spending, or rather feels that there are other areas of concern that the federal government should concentrate on, the facts still remain shocking to everyone.

Canada purchased 41 Sea King helicopters in 1963, designed to hunt Soviet submarines during the Cold War.  Since then, they have been used for search-and-rescue missions, cargo and troop transportation and reconnaissance missions.  There are 28 that still remain in service.   Over a 40 year period:

· 12 of the aircraft have crashed
· 31 have been damaged but since repaired
· There have been 27 crash landings
· 10 people have died
· 111 have been injured, 6 severely
· It takes 30 hours of maintenance for every 1 hour of flying

The Liberal government cancelled a contract to replace the helicopters in 1993 because it was believed to be a part of the Conservative legacy of cronyism.  Fine.

Now, we have Defence Minister David Pratt waffling on his proposed actions to overhaul the military, first telling the NDP in Question Period that the Sea Kings would be replaced within 4 years, when internal documents from his own department contradict this statement outright.

Debates about the Canadian military, defence spending and budgeting priorities are long winded and highly complicated, and cannot be summed up by one unequivocal statement either way. 

That being said, the Sea Kings have become a symbol for the state of disrepair that the military has succumbed to.  Inefficiency aside, we cannot continue to put troops at such blatant risk with such outdated equipment.

The time is now for the Martin government to show how serious they really are about charting a new direction for the security of Canada and our troops.  In light of the contingency funds that the federal government constantly maintains, the first step to honouring this pledge is to replace the Sea Kings as quickly as possible.

Comments? jonathan@tdhstrategies.com