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$500 million credit |
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| St. Boniface - Wednesday, October 2, 2002 - by: Mike Reilly | |||||||
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short |
Many of the buried secrets of Paul Martin's deficit reduction efforts are now rising to the surface. Over the past nine years, decisions to cut spending may have temporarily reduced expenses but were very short sighted. This government sacrificed many essentials such as healthcare, social services and infrastructure only to require much larger investments to restore them now. | ||||||
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cancellation |
This week, the Italian manufacturer contracted to supply the EH 101 helicopters cancelled as part of the 1993 election has offered to include the $500 million cancellation fee in the cost of the new contract to replace the Sea Kings. | ||||||
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ten |
This sum reflects work already done under the Tory government which would have seen our military with new helicopters more than five years ago. Re-tendering the contract for the Cormorants in 2002 will cost significantly more than the choppers did ten years ago and the earliest they can be delivered will be 2005. | ||||||
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metal |
Unaccounted in these figures are the costs to maintain outdated equipment, loss of productive service while in repair and, most recently, the unnecessary loss of life resulting from metal fatigue in the 40 year old Sea Kings. Tragically, this situation demonstrates either a lack of economic understanding in the Liberal government or a disregard for Canadians. | ||||||
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politics |
I suggest Canadians question the priorities of government members who supported the speedy purchase of the $100 million Challengers this March. That the Cormorant is the superior aircraft is beyond question. The question is, will politics continue to stand in the way, despite $500 million to be saved? | ||||||
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