Porc et les nouveaux avions

I guess I was on to something about why the C-130J contract is taking so long (along with the one for Boeing CH-47 helicopters):

The federal government has to be careful not to destabilize Montreal's thriving aerospace industry by handing out billions of dollars in contracts with no guarantee any of it will go to Quebec, Quebec Industry Minister Raymond Bachand warned yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with new federal Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, Bachand said the key to success in the global economy is through economic clusters such as the one that has grown up in Montreal around the aerospace industry...

"The government of Canada still has a responsibility when you hand out $17 billion worth of contracts, it is a massive intervention in the economy, to not destructure the economy and to encourage the clusters where they are found," Bachand said.

Fortier, however, was optimistic contracts will flow naturally to Quebec without the need of any intervention. "Since a big part of the (aeronautical) industry is found in Montreal and the expertise is in Montreal, naturally Montreal should receive a large share of those contracts."

He also suggested future government contracts could flow to Montreal-based companies. "There are other contracts that will be awarded, for helicopters, for other planes - and I think before judging whether or not Montreal has gotten its share, you should wait to see the overall contracts."..

The question of just how much business Quebec's aerospace industry will get from military spending has been a point of contention between Ottawa and Quebec - in particular between Bachand and former federal industry minister Maxime Bernier, who preferred to let market forces prevail.

Bachand was optimistic yesterday as he emerged from his meeting with Prentice, even though Prentice's office said there has been no change in the government's position that subcontracting decisions are up to Boeing.