This letter was sent to the Victoria Times-Colonist. It was inspired by Dominique Boisvert & Bruna Nota; see the post below.

Dear Editor,

“This is the most distorted hijacking of a procurement process you could ever make.” So says Alan Williams, former DND assistant deputy minister for materiel about the path leading to the proposed replacement of CF-18s with F-35 fighter jets.

The military industrial complex which former General and US President Dwight Eisenhower warned us of, is notorious for wasteful public-private partnerships that can bankrupt nations and lead to dangerous levels of power and wealth for war profiteers. Jeff Davis’ March 26 article on Lockheed-Martin’s F-35 underlines the validity of this view.

There are real threats to future well-being and security, arising from the totally unsustainable way our economy operates. Our government tells us that industrial projects which jeopardize our future are in the “national interest”. Wasting billions of dollars on fighter jets that would be virtually useless for protecting Canada’s territory or for peace-keeping is supposedly also good for Canada.

Another world, another Canada, are possible. Elizabeth May got out her “Green scissors” to propose alternate ways to cut the deficit and meet real needs.

Sincerely, Jan Slakov

(250) 537-5251