Defence Minister David McGuinty has fumbled the F-35 public relations file (U.S. DoD photo)
By Newell Durnbrooke
If Vice Admiral Angus Topshee wasn’t giving the Prime Minister’s Office headaches, then Defence Minister David McGuinty has becoming a migraine for the PMO.
It was McGuinty who had committed to the public release of the F-35 review by the end of summer. That date was confirmed to be Sept. 20-Sept. 22.
But those dates came and went with no word about what will happen with the report. As a result, the Liberals are getting peppered with questions about when the review is going to be made public.
It was obvious McGuinty was getting testy even before the deadline. “The F-35 review is continuing,” he told journalists Sept. 16. “It’s … I have nothing else to say at this stage.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the F-35 purchase in the wake of threats against Canadian sovereignty by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Ottawa Citizen has reported. The U.S. has become increasingly hostile to Canada, with Trump continuing economic efforts to punish Canada and push for this country to become the 51st state. The purchase of the U.S.-built F-35 will cost Canadians around $33 billion.
Liberal MP and Secretary of State (Defence Procurement) Stephen Fuhr has since jumped into the fray, fielding questions from journalists about the F-35 review. “We’ve got time to make the right decision,” Fuhr told the Hill Times. “The most important thing is making the right choice, not meeting an arbitrary timeline.”
Arbitrary deadline?
Someone should remind Fuhr that it was HIS government that set the deadline. No that they can’t make that deadline, then the Liberals should take responsibility for that issue.
While McGuinty is a public relations disaster, at least he doesn’t reach the hypocrite levels of Conservative MP James Bezan.
Bezan recently issued a news release attacking the Liberals for failing the Canadian Forces with their continued delays on the F-35 decision.
It was time for the Liberals to buy the F-35, he stated. “Conservatives will always support the brave women and men in the CAF,” Bezan claimed. “When will the Liberals? Our aviators – and all Canadians – are waiting.”
Talk about rewriting history. Bezan was part of the Stephen Harper Conservative government which originally ordered the F-35 and then backtracked and put the acquisition on hold. At the time, Bezan didn’t stand up from the brave men and women in the CAF. He went along with his government’s decision to put the F-35 purchase on hold.
It is not the first time Bezan has forgot the history of the Harper government he served in.
Bezan was on X on Jan. 10, 2025 going after the Liberals about their record on defence spending and support for the Canadian Forces.
“The Trudeau Liberals have destroyed our military,” Bezan tweeted.
As an earlier Counter Spin/Media Watch column pointed out, it was probably safe to say Bezan didn’t expect the blowback from Canadian Forces veterans that came next.
There were a couple of hundred comments pointing out how Bezan and the Harper Conservatives were far worse when it came to the Canadian Forces as well as the treatment of veterans.
Bezan was blasted by the commentators as a liar who was part of the Harper government which not only went after veterans but made significant cuts to the Canadian Forces. (Bezan was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in September 2013 as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence.)
Readers may recall the Conservative government’s court action in which $700,000 was spent to ensure the Harper administration was under no obligation to provide veterans with any special treatment. Pensions as well as veterans programs were cut.
And who can forget Harper minister Julian Fantino’s insults to a delegation of veterans as well as cutting jobs at veterans affairs. Bezan was silent throughout all of this, seen by a number in the defence community as failing to support veterans and the Canadian Forces.
Harper also ignored the NATO spending guideline despite signing on to the initiative in 2014. Instead, the Conservatives instituted significant cuts to the Canadian Forces budget.
