Aurora replacement rolling?

In reply to the Liberals, some encouraging words from the MND (except for the Astor bit at the end):

There are good arguments for replacing the Aurora maritime patrol planes, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Monday, which suggests the government may not go ahead with plans to refurbish the planes in Nova Scotia.

The government won’t announce its decision until a week from today, but Mr. MacKay’s comments leave little doubt he is leaning toward buying new planes rather than spending more money on the 18 Auroras, 14 of which are based at 14 Wing Greenwood.

"Would you feel safe getting in a 40-year-old car driving at high speed down the Trans-Canada Highway?" he said. "These pilots have to get in this equipment, Sea Kings and Auroras, and fly out over the North Atlantic in February in some pretty difficult weather conditions. So we need to ensure that we have proper, safe and efficient equipment."

At a news conference in Halifax on Monday morning, Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre attacked Mr. MacKay for considering replacing the Auroras, saying the decision would put 2,000 jobs at risk.

"Those planes have a capacity to be perfect up to 2025," Mr. Coderre said. "If we are replacing them . . . and we’re stalling those other (upgrades), you will have kind of a gap in some years when Canada won’t be able to fulfil its own military duty."..

According to The Canadian Press, the military is considering two aircraft to replace the Auroras: Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon and Bombardier’s Astor. If the military were to buy the Bombardier plane rather than refurbish the Auroras, that could mean jobs going to Quebec instead of Nova Scotia. Mr. MacKay said it would be surprising if Mr. Coderre opposed that.

"When’s the last time a Quebec MP went down to Atlantic Canada to argue for more jobs in the aerospace industry?" he said.

Ya gotta love the pork in defence procurement politics. But it hurts more with the current government.