On April 3, 2012 a report from the Auditor General created a furor that threw Government’s plans to procure F-35 stealth fighter aircraft into doubt. The Auditor General’s indictment of the opaque procurement process and misleading cost estimates for the new jets was the latest salvo in a long-running national debate over the controversial aircraft.
Unbeknownst to many members, the Salt Spring Forum has made important contributions to this policy debate. Since April of 2011, the Forum has been gaining national and international attention by providing valuable research and analysis on the question of how Canada should replace its aging fleet of CF-18s.
Most recently the Forum’s research associate Stewart Webb, along with board chair Michael Byers, published a lengthy analysis of the F-35 in the peer-reviewed Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. The report was presented at a press conference on Parliament Hill in February 2012, leading to a number of news stories and a lively debate in the House of Commons.
Stewart has also published op-ed articles on the F-35 issue in the National Post; Toronto Star; TheTyee.ca; and iPolitics.ca.
Other national and international news sources have taken notice and increasingly cite the research conducted by Michael and Stewart as the Government’s resolve to purchase the F-35 wavers.