NDP wants Carney to kill U.S. fighter jet contract in favour of Swedish aircraft

A U.S. F-35 fighter jet performs during the Dubai Air Show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

The NDP says it wants Prime Minister Mark Carney to cancel contracts for U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets -- including the 16 Canada has already committed to buying.

Citing Carney’s call for middle powers to work together in his World Economic Forum speech in Davos, Switzerland, last month, interim NDP leader Don Davies said Canada should instead purchase Gripen fighter jets from the Swedish firm Saab.

“The bottom line is that purchasing F-35s from the United States will deepen our military integration with a superpower, not reduce it,” Davies told a Wednesday press conference on Parliament Hill.

“As a firm based in Sweden, a dependable NATO partner, Saab provides Canada with a stable, predictable source of defence co-operation -- two middle powers fulfilling Mr. Carney’s stated goals.”

The NDP’s statement comes just days after U.S President Donald Trump threatened to decertify Bombardier jets and impose a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian aircraft unless Canada certifies a number of Gulfstream jets.

Lori Idlout, the NDP defence critic, brought the issue to question period Wednesday and cited Trump’s repeated threats against the sovereignty of Canada and Greenland.

“The prime minister promised to make Canada less reliant on American military. Will the prime minister make the switch or does his Davos speech mean nothing?” Idlout asked.

Defence Minister David McGuinty replied that procurement decisions are reviewed with an eye to the best interests of Canadians and the needs of the armed forces.

“We are committed to procuring what the air force needs while ensuring economic benefits for Canadians. And that is exactly what we’ll do,” McGuinty said.

While Canada launched a review of the F-35 contract last year, no decision on the future of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s fighter jet fleet has been made.

Davies said Canada cannot be “left vulnerable to the whims” of Trump or any future president who could withhold F-35 parts from Canada over policy disagreements.

“This is not just a fictional fear. Donald Trump did this to Ukraine. He threatened to withhold, and did withhold, parts to the F-16 fighter jet radar and left the Ukrainian Air Force in a lurch,” he said.

Air Force Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet has told The Canadian Press she wants to see her pilots learning to fly F-35s next year.

The Conservatives have called on the government to move forward with the F-35 contract.

Gen. Jennie Carignan, the chief of the defence staff, has said the F-35s have many advantages, including being able to keep up with advancing technology, and has warned switching to a different jet would likely increase the costs by adding additional training and maintenance.

Speiser-Blanchet told a House of Commons committee last week that the F-35 is the only aircraft that can counter the threats posed by countries like Russia and China.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026

With files from Kyle Duggan