stokes stokes:
There are two reasons why we did not buy the nuclear subs that Mulroney wanted:
1) at the time the Canadian public equated nuclear subs with nuclear weapons which is still a political bomb to this day.
2) We cut a lot of corners on the maintenance that we do in order to keep the ships available and when it comes to nuclear, you cant cut corners. For example you couldnt go to sea with only one coolant pump available....etc
It's not just subs Stokes, it's the entire defence portfolio.
If people here want to bitch about the Liberals cutting defence in the 90s, then they also have to acknowledge that Harper's fallen short on his promises too.
Despite talking big, the Conservatives are only spending a small amount more than Martin's Liberals would have. And he's stalled/cancelled all sorts of other programs.
Look at the icebreaker situation - he originally promised three heavy armed icebreakers. That would give us lots of operational capability in the Arctic. Instead, he's building one (unarmed) heavy icebreaker. That's going to replace the TWO we already have (both nearing the end of their service lives). We may sometime in the distant future build his Arctic Patrol Vessels, which on paper sound good, but only allow us to operate up there for a few months a year.
Then look at budget overruns on the new Chinooks - they might cost DOUBLE what was planned. Or look at the JSS file. He originally promised to build three ships - now because of delays and increases, the Navy will get only two (for the same price as the three originally promised).
He is planning to spend between $15 and $30 on fighter planes for which we never had a competition. Proponents say it is the best, but without a proper examination of its competitors, are we really sure? Or are we really buying it to make sure Canadian companies get access to the contracts for the F-35? That's my guess - that we're going to buy it because we're looking after Canadian companies - not Canadian pilots.
Harper may talk big on defence, and the military may believe him (especially guys like Hillier), but the fact is he isn't doing much better (if at all) than the Liberals did before him.