Politicians need a wakeup call
I'm in a line of work that requires self sacrifice. You sign up for the job knowing this and not only accept it, but attempt to make it part of your life. Politicans are not only elected to represent the views of their local constituency, but also to improve this country as a whole.
Or am I wrong? Is a politicans sole purpose to serve their own voters and damn the rest of the country? The issue that prompts this line of thought is the current debacle that is developing around the aircraft procurement process for the Air Force. We need new fixed wing SAR aircraft, we need a replacement for the Hercules fleet, we need a medium lift helicopter for the army.
I used the word 'need' not 'want' deliberately. This isn't an option, this isn't something that can be put off until the next administration agrees with it, this has to be done now. Realistically, it should have been done years ago. The Airforce had come up with the best solution available to them now, namely the Spartan (C-27J) for SAR, the new Hercules (C-130J) and new Chinook helicopters. Will they work? Do they fit the operational requirement? Do we need them? Certainly. Do they happen to fit into certain domestic corporations bottom line? Absolutely not. Should the Airforce care? Nope.
But enter the politician (insert cheesy villian music here). Certain provinces feel it necessary to delay the process to promote their own local businesses. This is the purpose of electing local politicians as I understand it. But, in my humble opinion, it is not the job of these politicians to stonewall every opportunity for the Airforce to get the kind of Kit that it needs.
Insisting that the bidding process is bias is just sour grapes. If your company does NOT produce an aircraft that can fit the bill, then you DON'T fit into the bidding process! Don't start whining to parliament that you're being excluded because we don't like your company. You're being excluded because YOU CAN'T MAKE AN AIRPLANE THAT WILL DO THE JOB!!! But... thanks to the way our system works, the bidding process is being CHANGED to suit the whiny parties. The people who are going to be the end users of the airplane can see the writing on the wall. We're going to get a sub-standard airplane shoved down our throats to satisfy the regional, political, and corporate will of entities and individuals that have no interest in the good of the country or of the Airforce.
Someone needs to go into parliament, and just run up and down the aisles giving every politician in there a good smack upside the head. Except for Bill Graham. I never thought I'd say that about a Liberal MP, but I actually get the impression that he's working his ass off to get the Airforce what the Airforce needs.
To any politician who may stumble across this: Please consider the effect of your actions upon the people who are going to have to work with this equipment. Believe it or not, they, and the people who will be served by these people and aircraft (i.e. the rest of Canada) are MORE important than you getting re-elected using this topic as your flag-du-jour.
Pessimistically hopeful as always.
Or am I wrong? Is a politicans sole purpose to serve their own voters and damn the rest of the country? The issue that prompts this line of thought is the current debacle that is developing around the aircraft procurement process for the Air Force. We need new fixed wing SAR aircraft, we need a replacement for the Hercules fleet, we need a medium lift helicopter for the army.
I used the word 'need' not 'want' deliberately. This isn't an option, this isn't something that can be put off until the next administration agrees with it, this has to be done now. Realistically, it should have been done years ago. The Airforce had come up with the best solution available to them now, namely the Spartan (C-27J) for SAR, the new Hercules (C-130J) and new Chinook helicopters. Will they work? Do they fit the operational requirement? Do we need them? Certainly. Do they happen to fit into certain domestic corporations bottom line? Absolutely not. Should the Airforce care? Nope.
But enter the politician (insert cheesy villian music here). Certain provinces feel it necessary to delay the process to promote their own local businesses. This is the purpose of electing local politicians as I understand it. But, in my humble opinion, it is not the job of these politicians to stonewall every opportunity for the Airforce to get the kind of Kit that it needs.
Insisting that the bidding process is bias is just sour grapes. If your company does NOT produce an aircraft that can fit the bill, then you DON'T fit into the bidding process! Don't start whining to parliament that you're being excluded because we don't like your company. You're being excluded because YOU CAN'T MAKE AN AIRPLANE THAT WILL DO THE JOB!!! But... thanks to the way our system works, the bidding process is being CHANGED to suit the whiny parties. The people who are going to be the end users of the airplane can see the writing on the wall. We're going to get a sub-standard airplane shoved down our throats to satisfy the regional, political, and corporate will of entities and individuals that have no interest in the good of the country or of the Airforce.
Someone needs to go into parliament, and just run up and down the aisles giving every politician in there a good smack upside the head. Except for Bill Graham. I never thought I'd say that about a Liberal MP, but I actually get the impression that he's working his ass off to get the Airforce what the Airforce needs.
To any politician who may stumble across this: Please consider the effect of your actions upon the people who are going to have to work with this equipment. Believe it or not, they, and the people who will be served by these people and aircraft (i.e. the rest of Canada) are MORE important than you getting re-elected using this topic as your flag-du-jour.
Pessimistically hopeful as always.
posted by Jack at 12:35 PM
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