OTTAWA — In an effort to pivot away from Canada’s overreliance on the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to Europe to build new security alliances and a new defence industrial strategy that could see European-designed fighter jets built in this country.
But two Canadian sources told the Star that prospect is only a possible implication of what Carney has set in motion after he ordered a review of the F-35 purchase plan, and travelled to Paris and London after discussing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen his goal to see Canada be a player in the new drive to “rearm Europe.”
Carney’s stated objective is not just to see Europe secure its own borders and industries, it’s to strengthen Canadian security networks beyond the U.S. and to boost Canada’s domestic defence industries and production.
That could mean, as the New York Times first reported, that new Swedish-designed Gripen fighter jets could be built in Canada.
However two Canadian sources with knowledge of the file, who the Star agreed not to identify because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said talks with the Europeans are in the very early stages. The Carney government has not set out the exact terms of reference for its review of the planned purchase of 88 U.S.-made jets. Ottawa has signed a contract for the first 16 stealth fighter planes, and has options to purchase another 72 — which Carney said this week will be re-examined.
Meanwhile, the Europeans are moving quickly to consolidate and ramp up their spending, and Carney wants in on the action.
Von der Leyen released a formal position paper on Wednesday that sets out financial measures to respond to the short-term urgency of supporting Ukraine, and provide a road map to bolster Europe’s security and defence.
“We must buy more European,” she said, “because that means strengthening the European defence technological and industrial base. That means stimulating innovation. And that means creating a EU-wide market for defence equipment.”
Her white paper cites an intention to collaborate more with Canada: “Our co-operation with Canada has intensified and should be further enhanced, also to strengthen transatlantic security. The bilateral Security and Defence dialogue as well as the upcoming Security and Defence partnership provide the basis for enhanced security and defence co-operation, including on respective initiatives to boost defence industry production,” it says.
Carney said he discussed Canada’s participation in the “rearm Europe” project earlier this week with French President Emmanuel Macron, and with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer although Britain is no longer a member of the European Union. In his few hours with Macron, they launched a new bilateral intelligence sharing arrangement — as the Trump administration muses aloud about ditching Canada as a “Five Eyes” network partner.
A readout of their talks issued by Macron’s office said the new partnership will focus on “cybersecurity and intelligence sharing on significant threats. Key topics will include economic security, violent extremism, counter-proliferation, interference, espionage, sabotage, and threats associated with advanced technologies.” Canadian officials declined to discuss what the agreement changes or entails.
In London, Carney didn’t name Donald Trump, but said it was “prudent” and “in the interests of Canada” to explore options to the F-35 “given the geopolitical environment, given the fact that there are options, given the need for value for money, (and) given the possibility of having substantial production of alternative aircraft in Canada, as opposed to” relying so heavily on the U.S. and spending 80 per cent of its defence procurement dollars in the U.S.
Europe’s plan to fast-track and increase its defence spending “creates the potential to create supply chains that mean that Canadian companies are participating in the development of these defence systems,” he said.
“And we are actively exploring this,” he said, saying it would be advantageous on many levels if the country can diversify its suppliers “in a way that ensures that as much as possible that production resides in Canada and benefits Canadians.”
In Iqaluit the next day, where Carney announced Canada would spend $6 billion on an Australian-designed Arctic early warning radar system, Carney stressed that “securing Canada is an absolute strategic priority of this government.”
Former U.S. ambassador to Canada David Cohen had long pushed Canada to ramp up Arctic defences, and said Wednesday the radar purchase is “good news” because “advanced detection, domain awareness is a critical early element of homeland defense, and it is a huge priority.”
“Our policy goal was just to make sure that Canada was investing properly in defence and was doing business with aligned actors, and Australia was clearly an aligned actor.”
However, when it comes to the F-35 review, Cohen stressed Canada’s decision to buy the F-35s was the right one, and wasn’t just based on historically close Canada-U.S. ties or the relationship between the two countries’ leaders at the time, Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden.
“That decision was made because the F-35 is the best future fighter aircraft buyable. The Swedish plane was in competition. It lost to the F-35. The F-35 is a better plane, and one of the reasons why it is a better plane is because of the interoperability and interchangeability of the F-35 with future fighter aircraft that have already been purchased and are being used by the United States and other NATO countries.”
He declined to speculate how the Trump administration might view Canada’s moves.
Jody Thomas, a former defence deputy minister and national security and intelligence adviser to Trudeau, said in an interview that the F-35 review will present challenges.
“I think it is good to explore all options in this period of uncertainty but I don’t think decisions are going to be quick or easily come to,” she said.
“The F-35 won a legitimate and long, complex competition and if that plan is going to be changed, we have to look at what’s going to be best for Canada, for the Royal Canadian Air Force, for Norad, but also for long term viability.”
If Canada were to add a different fighter jet to its fleet, it would have to be interoperable with the F-35s because “there are some security aspects that the U.S. would have to agree to if the plane were used in a Norad mission. If it’s used in a NATO operation or in other Canadian or domestic missions, it’s less complex,” she said.
Dave Perry, head of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said there are “massive opportunity costs” attached to any option other than sticking with the F-35. Those include lost time for the purchase, training of pilots and maintenance experts, “more financial costs, less capability, etc.”
“However, operating the F35 requires trust in the long-term reliability of the U.S. government to keep Canada and other allies supplied with the software needed to make the plane operate the way it’s intended. There’s reason to question American reliability on a lot of things at the moment if their president is in the habit of voiding agreements he signed himself.”
Perry also added that the Liberals’ credibility “on this file isn’t strong” and referred to the 2015 campaign promise to rip up the contract for F-35s “on spurious grounds” only to end up agreeing to its purchase, as was first announced by the previous Conservative government.
