Canada’s defence minister says the federal government is still assessing all available options as it weighs whether to proceed with the planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets from the United States. Ottawa has already committed to buying 16 of the advanced stealth aircraft to replace the country’s aging fleet of CF-18 Hornets. But Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the contract for the remaining 72 aircraft after the United States first announced tariffs on Canadian goods early last year. The political sensitivity around the deal has only grown as trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. have escalated. Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby added his voice to the chorus urging Ottawa to scrap the contract for the American jets. “When your friend kicks you in the back, one of the first rules is you don’t then go and buy $12 billion of fighter jets from that person,” Eby told reporters, encouraging the federal government to consider non-tariff measures in response to new U.S. levies. ‘Massive and important decision’ Defence Minister David McGuinty pushed back on the suggestion the government should sacrifice the F-35 deal to growing anti-American sentiment. “Canada has a responsibility to obtain an appropriate fighter jet fleet for our own responsibilities, to acquit ourselves of our responsibilities domestically, continentally, and internationally,” McGuinty said Tuesday. “And I would say to Canadians that we continue to examine this issue very carefully.” The full scope of the government’s review encompasses a range of considerations, he said, including potential industrial benefits for Canada, the aircraft’s interoperability with NATO and Norad partners, and its integration with existing radar and missile-defence systems. “There are a whole series of factors that play into this massive and important decision,” McGuinty said. “The F-35 acquisition is under review. It will remain under review until it’s no longer under review,” McGuinty added. “We will take the time we need to get this right.” Canada’s top soldier echoed the defence minister’s remarks, saying the F-35 review is proceeding independently of outside pressure to cancel the agreement. “The F-35 is still under review so that’s for the government to make a decision in the next few months,” Gen. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s chief of the defence staff, said Wednesday. U.S. drone procurement on track In an interview with CTV News, Carignan highlighted a number of other military procurement projects that are moving forward, including the acquisition of MQ-9B drones for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the development of broad defence infrastructure in the Arctic. “We’ve learned a lot from Nanisivik,” Carignan said, referring to the military’s doomed two-decade effort to construct a naval refuelling facility in the Far North. “We understand how the environment is changing, so that actually informs how the military is going to posture to better do this,” she said in response to questions about how the military would avoid the failures of previous Arctic infrastructure projects. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to build military bases all over the Arctic,” she added. “The military’s concept of operation is very agile. It includes technology to have a layered defense, so it means being able to project forces as needed to conduct sovereignty operations, to conduct operations when we need to respond to various crises.” The Department of National Defence says the $2.5-billion procurement of 11 MQ-9B Reaper drones from U.S. manufacturer General Atomics remains on track. Delivery of the first uncrewed aircraft is expected in 2028, with full operating capability planned by the end of 2033, spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an email. The first two Canadian drones entered production in 2024 and were due to undergo testing this year to assess their suitability for operations from forward operating bases in the harsh Arctic environment. “The project is moving forward, and some infrastructure is going up,” Carignan said, referring to drone hangars and sustainment facilities under construction at Canadian Forces bases in Comox and Greenwood, N.S. “We might have buildings, we might have the drone itself, but it doesn’t mean that the capability is actually all there yet.”
