(Ottawa) The Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, does not want to indicate whether the replacement of a fleet of aging military aircraft will be the subject of an open call for tenders process, while the premiers of Canada’s two largest provinces and Bombardier are urging him to “level the playing field” in a “deeply flawed process.”
Minister Champagne told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that the federal government had not yet made a decision on whether Bombardier would have the chance to submit a proposal to supply new surveillance planes.
“There is no decision made,” said Mr. Champagne. In military acquisitions, it is rarely very, very fast. It’s complex too. »
“We will make the best decision in the interest of Canadians,” he added, specifying that the cost, availability and capabilities of the devices will be examined.
For months, Bombardier CEO Eric Martel has been encouraging Ottawa to issue a call for tenders as he promotes the company’s still-nonexistent surveillance plane over the option to use Boeing planes, which are apparently favored in this matter.
He told the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defense on Tuesday that the procurement process was “deeply flawed and lacked transparency.” Mr. Martel claimed the government made critical changes to its criteria – including a much shorter delivery time and an existing product “off the shelf” – without informing industry players.
Bombardier joined forces earlier this year with US company General Dynamics on a surveillance aircraft, a modified Global 6500 business jet with submarine-hunting technology. The two companies hope their efforts could allow them to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 14 CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft by the early 2030s, after half a century of service.
However, Simon Page, assistant deputy minister of maritime and defense procurement, told the defense committee on Tuesday that “we concluded that the P-8A Poseidon was the best aircraft to meet Canada’s operational needs.” The Poseidon is built by Boeing.
This view reiterates an analysis by Public Services and Procurement Canada, which highlights the plane’s strengths in intelligence gathering, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. However, the ministry’s conclusion does not trigger “a certain direction” for the procurement process, Page said, whether it is sole-sourced or competitively tendered.
Earlier in the day, the premiers of Ontario, Doug Ford, and Quebec, François Legault, renewed their July request to “level the playing field” and launch a call for tenders.
“Canadian manufacturers have responded to this call, but the federal government continues to demonstrate its intention to exclude these companies and their workers from its procurement process,” the prime ministers said in a joint statement.
They asked the House of Commons to “mandate the Parliamentary Budget Officer to determine the costs and consequences of this decision”.
Bombardier’s president and CEO touted the benefits of his plane, saying it would be up to 40% cheaper than Boeing’s and emphasizing that it would be built and assembled in Montreal and Toronto.
“We can do it and we can actually deliver a superior product,” Martel told reporters after a speech at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa Tuesday morning.
Boeing, like Bombardier and General Dynamics, sought to boast of its good faith in Canada.
The aviation giant’s P-8A would support more than 2,900 jobs and generate $358 million in economic output in Canada per year, according to a study commissioned by Boeing from management consulting firm Doyletech.
The federal government also noted the predominance of the P-8 among Canadian allies.
“This platform is a proven capability that is leveraged by several of Canada’s defense partners, including all of its Group of Five allies – the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand – as well as Norway and South Korea. Germany also recently purchased this platform,” the purchasing department said in a statement on March 27.
In February 2022, the department sent a letter requesting an offer on 16 Boeing aircraft through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program. He clarified that his request “does not commit Canada to purchasing the P-8A Poseidon and that the project remains under options analysis.”
On Tuesday, Minister Champagne highlighted Canadian aerospace suppliers’ ties to a range of manufacturers – not just Canadians – suggesting that a contract with a foreign company could still have lucrative effects at home.
“Quebec is the third platform in the world for building planes,” declared Mr. Champagne.
“Never forget that there are suppliers who supply Bombardier on one side as much as Boeing on the other,” he added. Our duty to taxpayers is to make the best decision for taxpayers, for defense, for national security, but obviously for the ecosystem. »
Quebec is home to 61% of Canada’s jobs in the aerospace sector, according to the United States International Trade Agency.
The industry contributed more than $27 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and created nearly 212,000 jobs last year, according to the trade agency, even though most of the production is for civil aviation rather than defense.
Troy Crosby, assistant deputy minister of the Materiel Group, said Tuesday that replacing the Aurora planes is not an “urgent operational need” given that the date for their retirement “is not very specific “.
With information from Michel Saba, in Ottawa