A little something in the cookie jar

This is fabulous! The prime minister of Canada is being whacked upside the head by opposition and the media for buying a couple of Challenger jets, and this is his response:

Prime Minister Jean ChrÈtien yesterday defended the rushed purchase of two Bombardier jets worth $100-million, saying he had money to spend in the dying days of the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

They are, of course, putting an ineloquent speaker on the defensive and getting excellent quotes with a wonderful little trick: ask several questions in one. Everyone wants to know why they bought the jets that they probably didn't need, without the defence department's involvement, from a Canadian contractor (Bombardier) without going through the standard bidding process.

Nobody, especially Chretien, could answer that without sounding stupid. Let's think about the relevance of all this. Question 1: Did the government need new jets? If yes, then proceed; if no, scrutinize further. Question 2: If the jets were needed, why was DND not involved? This is a hard one, considering the defense department both manages and operates the fleet. No getting around this one. It's an "oops!" Question 3: If the planes were needed, why wasn't there an open bid process. Notwithstanding NAFTA issues about open opportunities and the fact tha Paul Tellier and Jean Chretien go way back, the answer has been provided quite succinctly by Chretien. WE BOUGHT CANADIAN. The Challenger may be much higher priced and have lower performance than other nation's products, BUT they're OUR products.

Besides, this is kind of minor league imperialism compared to the "Taj Mahal" Airbuses that were cancelled a decade or so ago under another prime minister with plane envy.

Posted by Grayson at October 21, 2003 01:21 PM