Will Spend Over $8 Billion On Military Upgrades

Consummated with a handshake between President Bush and Canada's new prime minister, Stephen Harper, at Thursday's meeting in Washington -- our neighbors to the north have begun a massive upgrade of the military air fleet.

It's a package worth $ 8.1 billion... and it's already under fire from the Liberal opposition in Ottawa.

"It's an irresponsible way for the government to move forward and they're simply doing it to please Mr. Bush," said Liberal defense critic Ujjal Dosanjh to Toronto's Globe and Mail. "It's going to be a very expensive handshake that Mr. Harper will have with Mr. Bush."

The paper reports Canada's Department of Public Works cited a lack of other suitable aircraft when it agreed to the order, which includes 16 Chinook helicopters, four C-17 Globemaster IIIs, and maintenance for both types.

There is a payback clause in the proposed purchase. Boeing will have to invest about the same amount of money in Canadian goods and processes.

Even after the purchase is a done deal, we'll probably not have heard the last word from Liberals opposed to a single-source contract with a US company.

The Public Works Department Wednesday started the bidding process on 17 aircraft it wants to replace its aging fleet of C-130s.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.liberal.ca