In this episode, we discuss the implications of Canada's decision to pull out of a deal to purchase F-35s from the United States, and the implications for the future of the alliance between Canada and the U.S.
00:02:34.820I was here as minister in my current position just two years ago with Minister Champagne,
00:02:42.220looking into a lot of possible opportunities then.
00:02:46.200A lot of that has gone from words to action and is also the reason why we are here.
00:02:51.180But, of course, I mean, we still see the U.S. as our friends in Sweden,
00:02:56.720but they have come so much more unpredictable.
00:02:59.700And we are looking for partners that are not only transactional, like how can I profit for you,
00:03:06.940but rather how can we both profit from this.
00:03:10.240And this is also the message that Prime Minister Carney is sending throughout the world with all of the partnerships that he and the works that he's doing internationally.
00:03:20.400is it needs to benefit the both of us.
00:03:24.200And that's why I think Canada and Sweden also are a good match.
00:03:27.200Have they indicated to you how soon they will make a decision?
00:03:29.940No, and I think, I mean, this is something, decisions that have to be made in a very orderly manner.
00:03:39.260But, I mean, Sweden is in Daft Punk mode, so we're ready to go, you know, faster, stronger, harder, better.
00:03:45.860And that's what we're looking for now.
00:03:47.320One final question, kind of bridging your last two answers.
00:03:50.620So the pressure on us is not just a money thing, right?
00:03:54.340It's that we have, you know, great interoperability with the potential purchase of F-35s with the United States.
00:04:00.480She's basically talking about the compatibility of, you know, the whole NORAD thing, right?
00:04:06.160This alliance between Canada and the United States, if you're using different equipment, right?
00:04:13.180Forget about the fact that that signals to the United States that Canada is just moving away from its traditional alliance.
00:04:20.060You're looking at the reality that Canada depends heavily on the United States for its defense.
00:04:26.960Canada depends a lot on America for its defense.
00:04:29.860And so if Canada won't be buying military equipment from the USA anymore, then what's the point?
00:04:36.160You might need to reconsider everything at that point.
00:04:39.600Then there's the issue of compatibility.
00:04:42.220If you're having a completely different fighter jet, an inferior fighter jet, because of, come on, Canada itself has previously determined that the F-35 is the superior fighter jet.
00:04:54.840So this is not even open to debate anymore.
00:04:57.680Then that part will also then show quite great weakness.
00:05:02.140And that weakness will be taken advantage of.
00:05:05.140And I say this as a country who have been a very close ally to the NATO, but that we're not full-on members.
00:05:14.140It actually shows friendship and loyalty.
00:05:16.460You're buying military equipment from the country whose military basically protects you.
00:05:23.940That's just friendship and loyalty is what it is.
00:05:26.140But she's going to say what she has to say because she has to represent her country and her country's interest.
00:05:31.100And her interest is to sell inferior fighter jets to Canada from Sweden.
00:05:36.200Okay, so here's the report regarding the fighter jet competition that we're now having in Canada over the F-35s versus the Swedish ones.
00:05:45.700The president and CEO of Saab, Mikael Johansson, confirmed he's talked with Ottawa about making grippens in Canada.
00:05:53.860He's also met with companies including Bombardier, CAE and IMP in Nova Scotia.
00:05:59.460It's important for Canada to have sovereign capability in Canada to do their own upgrades, to build parts of it, to do final assembly and tests.
00:06:08.340We, as Saab, we are prepared to do that technology transfer to Canada and support that buildup.
00:06:13.700This would be contingent, of course, on Canada adding the grippens to its military fleet.
00:06:18.880It could also lead to the building of a new facility, a hub of source, where jets could be made not just for Canada but other nations, including Ukraine.
00:06:27.220It makes sense to have a big footprint in Canada together with Canadian industry.
00:06:32.480So it's absolutely a benefit for us to do that.
00:06:35.600The delegation from Sweden, led by the king and queen of this country here, is headed to Canada next week with the aim of strengthening ties.
00:06:42.840Yeah, the Swedes are just trying to sell their product.
00:06:48.020But at the end of the day, Canada's loyalty should be closer to the USA.
00:06:51.900Again, from a defense perspective, the United States protects Canada, directly or indirectly.
00:06:58.740So if you decide to now prop up another country, not only could we have compatibility issues with our equipment, but also that speaks of a lack of loyalty.
00:07:10.100And again, like I said previously, Canada itself has already determined that the F-35 is the superior tested fighter jet.
00:07:32.540In reviewing the grip and proposal, the industry minister is essentially saying that it does come with greater industrial benefits at this moment in time.
00:07:40.000And she's talking about thousands of potential jobs for this country, plus an R&D centre to be established in Canada.
00:07:47.480By comparison, how does that stack up with what's on the table with Lockheed Martin and the F-35?
00:07:54.280So to answer the question directly, I mean, it's just different because the nature of the participation with the F-35 is different.
00:08:00.900But take a step back and say that not very many years ago, we ran a competition where we evaluated both of these options.
00:08:07.540It's the airplanes themselves, their military capability, the cost of the proposals, as well as the economic benefit proposals.
00:08:15.460So we not very long ago went and did a comparison side-by-side of these exact same alternatives.
00:08:20.860So it's a little curious that we're here now having a conversation about the one that we didn't select being better.
00:08:26.640Because at the time, what was articulated was that the proposal from Lockheed Martin for the F-35 was the best one all around.