Retiring Snowbirds is ‘unnecessary,’ aircraft is ‘structurally capable’: former MP

Former MP and retired Royal Canadian Air Force member Laurie Hawn joins Alberta Primetime's Michael Higgins to discuss the future of the Snowbirds.

The Canadian Snowbirds will be grounded after more than 50 years in the air until the arrival of replacement aircraft in the early 2030s. Former Conservative MP and retired Royal Canadian Air Force member Laurie Hawn discusses the transition.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michael Higgins: What’s your thought on the decision to ground the Snowbirds at the end of the current air demonstration season?

Laurie Hawn: I think it’s unnecessary. The aircraft is structurally capable of flying, as engineers have stated, and the government knows this. They’re ignoring it until at least 2030 and then they could transition to, not a turbo-prop airplane, which is the PC21, but a jet, which would be the new fighter lead-in trainer that we will be buying somewhere around that time. That will keep them in the rank of jet teams, because we would be the only G7 country with a non-jet team. The Italian Frecce Tricolori, the British Red Arrows, the Patrouille de France, the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds, and the Snowbirds had been at the forefront of the aerobatic team world.

We would very much sink to a much lower level of excitement and acceptance and a much less capable symbol of Canada. I mean, the Snowbirds are one of the symbols of Canada, like the musical ride, like maple syrup. Canada Day at Parliament Hill without the Snowbirds will not be as nearly as nice an event. And they are the best recruiting tool that we have, not just for the RCAF, but for the Canadian Forces writ large. They are such a visible symbol of what it can be to be part of the military, and they are demonstrably the best recruiting tool we have, and we’re going to lose that, and it’s completely unnecessary.

MH: What are potential options then, if it were not turbo-prop type aircraft?

LH: Carry on with the Snowbirds with the Tutor until 2030 and then transition the whole Snowbird team of that year to our new fighter lead-in trainer, which would be one of three candidates right now, all jet aircraft, transition the whole team to that new aircraft, and then go about their standard rotation. They bring in one or two new people every year, but keep the team intact. Just transition to a new airplane, and then carry on with that.

MH: Does it matter whether or not it’s the F35 or it’s a Saab Gripen or whatever aircraft the government decides to go with?

LH: The fighter lead-in trainer is the airplane that people go on after they get their wings, if they’re going to go on to high performance jobs. In the future, they’ll transition to the F35 hopefully, not the Gripen, but that’s another story.

MH: Most of us know the Snowbirds are based out of Moose Jaw, Sask. However, many of the pilots and ground support crew come by way of 4 Wing Cold Lake, so there’s an Alberta element there. What kind of impact militarily does this decision have?

LH: It takes away one of the things that people in the military, pilots and grounds crew, can aspire to. Being a member of the Snowbirds, either in the air or on the ground, is a pretty cool thing to do and to have on your resume. I wanted to join the Snowbirds one year, my wife said ‘no,’ but that’s another story. It’s another symbol of what Canada is, what we have been, what we have meant to the world of aviation, and the world in so many other ways. It’s just something to aspire to, and we’re going to lose that.

MH: What makes them so important, not only militarily, but in terms of Canadian identity?

LH: They’re a symbol of a modern country that is technologically advanced, that plays a serious part in the world of not just aviation, but military writ large. We’re getting some of that back now after years of neglect and that’s a good thing, and the Snowbirds are a part of that. They’re looked on by other countries as (being in) the big leagues. If we’re in a PC21, we are not in the big leagues anymore. It’s a good airplane, there’s no question about that, they’ll put on a nice show, but you need to have jet performance to make an impact, the impact you should be able to make with Canadians and, frankly, with our allies.

MH: On another front, the (U.S. President Donald) Trump administration suspended the permanent joint board on defence, a cooperative board involving both nations that goes back, I understand, 86 years. You were Canadian co-chair were you not, during your time as an MP?

LH: I was, I co-chaired it from 2012 to 2015. It is a binational body, we don’t make policy, we advise, and it started back in 1940 with Mackenzie King and Franklin Roosevelt. They signed it in Ogdensburg, New York, in August 1940 and it endured for 86 years as an advisory body. There’s senior folks from both countries, we operate in a classified environment. It’s been a part of things going back to the construction of the Alaska Highway, the land lease operations in World War II, the formation of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command), the modernization of NORAD, we advised a lot of that. The two co-chairs, there’s one American, one Canadian, I was the Canadian side of that, and we report directly to the prime minister or the president, we don’t go through any other bodies.

MH: This decision by the Americans, what does it signify?

LH: It signifies one that they’re doing policy by social media, because it didn’t come from President Trump, it came from an under secretary of defense, Elbridge Colby. I think it’s a bargaining tool, everything that the president does is attached to something else by way of a bargain. It’s not a big showstopper, but it’s one more little thing that he can hold us up for in things like CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) and various other things that we’re doing binationally that are important to both countries. And because he does things by social media, he can also retract it by social media, and he’s done that in the past, so I wouldn’t get too excited about it. It’s just one more indication of the lack of trust that the president has, and the way he manipulates those things to his, frankly, largely personal benefit, but also to the benefit of both countries, and these things do benefit both countries.

MH: Efforts are building to position Edmonton as a premier hub for defence innovation in Canada. What will it take to make that a reality?

LH: There’s a lot of talent in Alberta, a lot of talent in Canada obviously, but a lot of talent in Alberta that is starting to be recognized. We’re going to put a fleet of air fuelers at the international airport, that involves a lot of technology, a lot of infrastructure. I don’t know what the price tag is, but it’s going to be lots of millions of dollars. Canada is involved in all levels of that and Alberta is playing a role, which is going to expand with things like I just mentioned. There’s various other projects that all are part of us reaching our NATO goal of 2.5 per cent, eventually five per cent. We’re going in that direction, not fast enough for Donald Trump, that’s understandable, not fast enough for me either. We are behind the power curve and we need to catch up, and this is part of catching up. Alberta will play a significant role in that, because we’ve got all the right brains, all the right energy and so on here in Alberta. We will be part of that if people will just accept it in Canada that this is important to us as a country. And (we have to) get the attention of people like Donald Trump, for as long as his attention span is. We are in this together and we’re doing things together and we have to be part of the future, and that’s what this is about, the future of Canada as a reliable partner in not just North American defence, but worldwide defence.