What's Canada Buying? September 22, 2012

• F-35 Tug o’ War  “Conservative MPs are putting an end to a Commons committee inquiry into Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s scathing report released in April on the government’s controversial plan to spend $25-billion on 65 F-35 stealth fighter jets.  The inquiry was to come to a halt in a closed-door meeting of the Commons Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, after the NDP gave up a one-MP filibuster it had mounted for several weeks in May and June when the government first served notice that the sessions would end after only eight hours of hearings and a handful of government-approved witnesses.  The ranking Conservative MP on the panel, Andrew Saxton (Vancouver North, B.C.), had moved a motion calling on the committee to begin preparing a report to the Commons on the few hearings that had been held, which angered the opposition MPs as the summer recess approached.  But the first fall sitting of the House Public Accounts Committee, along with a scheduled meeting of another House committee chaired by the NDP, Government Operations Committee, was cancelled at the last minute because of committee membership changes, delaying the official end of the F-35 inquiry until next week when both committees resume sittings ….”
• “Boeing has completed its selection of in-country providers to support Canadian Forces CH-147F helicopters by awarding an Engineering Support Services contract to General Dynamics Canada.  The In-Service Support program contracts — five others were announced in January and July — are an integral part of Boeing’s support of Canada’s Industrial and Regional Benefits policy for the CH-147F Chinook. The six contracts are tied to Boeing’s CH-147F Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) program, which will generate benefits of approximately US$2 billion for Canada over a 20-year period.  “Boeing and its Canadian partners are committed to providing superior service to our customers while advancing the country’s aerospace industry,” said Peri Widener, vice president, Rotorcraft Support Programs. “We look forward to building on more than 90 years of creating long-term, high-value opportunities with Canadian industry.”  Under the CH-147F Engineering Support Services program, Ottawa-based General Dynamics Canada will work with Boeing on projects that include reliability, availability and maintainability support; systems and support engineering; integrated logistics; and structural integrity engineering services. The company received a CH-147F maintenance training suite/contractor maintenance support contract from Boeing in July ….”

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