NDP says replacing the navy's aging supply ships would be its defence priority

ESQUIMALT, B.C. - The NDP wants to put the navy at the top of Canadian defence policy, ahead of fighter jets, at least for the time being.

Jack Layton said a New Democratic government would review the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter and possibly put the CF-18 replacement out to open tender, but only after drafting a white paper to chart the future of the military.

"Without question, Stephen Harper's high-risk procurement strategy on the fighters places in doubt whether he has the right priorities for our Canadian Forces or that he can get the job done," Layton said Friday at a campaign event overlooking the navy's principal West Coast base at Esquimalt, B.C.

The NDP would place ships over fighter jets, he said.

But Layton's policy was greeted with skepticism by a long-time supporter and former member of the military late Friday at a town hall meeting in Kamloops, B.C.

Patricia Brewer, who served with $02 Squadron as a master corporal, said she had hoped to see something more definitive.

"The biggest thing I'm trying to get these guys to put forward is, what is their policy about our aircraft," said Brewer, whose son is finishing at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., and heading to pilot training.

"His answer to me was a debate. We don't want no more debate. We don't need a bunch of politicians arguing back and forth about the price tag when the military is telling them what they need."

Replacing the navy's aging supply ships, which was first proposed under the Paul Martin government seven years ago, would be Layton's top defence priority.

"Our current ships have reached the end of their operational lives," he said. "They need to be replaced immediately."

The country's patrol frigates are currently going through their mid-life refits, which will keep them operational until at least 2030.

But the navy's two replenishment ships, HMCS Preserver and HMCS Protecteur, are more than 40 years old and have been the subject of an on-again, off-again replacement strategy.

Replacements had been held up mostly by the absence of a national shipbuilding strategy, which the Conservatives only unveiled last year.

It called on Ottawa to establish a strategic partnership with two shipyards. One would handle large combat ships and the other smaller civilian vessels, such as coast guard cutters.

Layton said the NDP wants to see "all shipyards get the chance to bid" on federal contracts, but made scrapping the existing strategy contingent on the defence white paper, something the federal government hasn't produced since 1994.

His proposals have the potential to play well both on Vancouver Island and in Halifax, where the navy and shipbuilding industries are concentrated.

Interestingly, Layton says an NDP government would implement the defence spending plan from the March budget, which never came to a vote before the Conservatives were defeated in the House of Commons.

The nearly $21-billion defence budget has always been considered too rich by many of Layton's supporters.

In his defence policy, Layton said an NDP government would make the defence of Canada, humanitarian missions and disaster assistance the top priorities for the military.

Peacekeeping and peace-building around the world would also factor in, but Layton said what shape those missions would take would be discussed in the white paper.

There are few traditional United Nations peacekeeping missions anymore and defence experts have said the future of UN interventions will likely be more muscular, as in Afghanistan and Libya.

Source: By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press. 8/04/2011

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