The Premier of Quebec wants his counterparts in other provinces to support his request to the federal government not to exclude Bombardier from the race to replace the Aurora CP-140 maritime patrol aircraft.
The Premier of Quebec is currently in Winnipeg, where he participates in the Council of the Federation. He is due to meet his counterparts from other provinces and territories tonight at a private dinner on Monday.
This meeting comes as Bombardier fears that Ottawa will reject out of hand its aircraft model designed in partnership with General Dynamics to replace its aging fleet of Aurora CP-140s. Quebec Premier Francois Legault met with Bombardier President and CEO Eric Martel last month to talk to him about the issue.
The modified version of the Global 6500 business jet offered by the Montreal business jet manufacturer only exists on paper. It would be equipped for submarine surveillance and detection, in order to qualify as a Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMA). However, Ottawa announced in June that its preferred model was instead the P-8A Poseidon, produced by its rival, Boeing.
“After consultation with industry and Canada’s closest allies, the government has determined that the P-8A Poseidon is the only readily available aircraft that meets all operational requirements [exigées] “.
In an email, a National Defense spokeswoman told the Duty that “Canada continues to evaluate its options”, and that the decision will be made based on the price of the device and the economic benefits for Canadian businesses.
Ontario Agree
“We believe that the contract should be the subject of a call for tenders”, specifies the office of the Premier of Quebec in a statement sent to the Duty.
“We are talking about a multi-billion dollar order, the federal government must commit to launching an open and transparent commercial process. This would allow Canadian – and Quebec – companies, which are already part of the Canadian aeronautics and defense supply chain, to apply and share their expertise. We want Bombardier to have a fair and equitable opportunity. »
If he addresses this subject with the other premiers around the table of the Council of the Federation, François Legault can already count on the support of his Ontario counterpart in this file. Premier Doug Ford intends to pose as a defender of Ontario industry, and demand from Ottawa a competitive process in good and due form.
“Bombardier not only employs thousands of workers in the Greater Toronto Area, but its Canadian suppliers provide thousands of indirect jobs in Ontario and across the country,” explains the press secretary to the Premier of Ontario, Caitlin Clark.
Turning the page on health
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is hosting this summer meeting of the Council of the Federation. This forum is usually the occasion for the premiers of the provinces and territories to formulate common demands with the federal government.
However, this is the first meeting of these heads of government since they collectively accepted in February the federal government’s offer on health transfers, amounting to an additional $46.2 billion over ten years. Since then, all provinces and territories have signed agreements in principle with Ottawa, except Quebec. The two orders of government are still optimistic of reaching an agreement before the end of the year, which would be retroactive to the 1er April 2023.
Thus, the theme of federal money in health is not on the agenda of the Council of the Federation this year, which marks a significant contrast with previous editions of the summit. Quebec also told The Canadian Press that it would like to address green economy issues in particular during the meeting.
With The Canadian Press