Two former officials who handled military purchasing are condemning the Trudeau government’s plan to buy 18 Super Hornet fighter jets.
Alan Williams and Dan Ross call the purchase a a questionable waste of billions of taxpayer dollars.
The Liberals announced this week that they want to purchase the Super Hornets without a competition because the air force is facing a critical shortage of warplanes, posing an “urgent need.”
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Such a need is one of the few exceptions in the federal procurement law that allows the government purchase new military equipment without a full competition.
But Williams and Ross say they don’t believe there is an urgent need, since the government could pick a new fighter jet through an open competition in two years or less.
The Liberals say buying the Super Hornets would be a stop gap measure until a permanent jet is decided upon.