Activists gathered on Parliament Hill on Saturday January 7 to reject Canada spending billions of dollars on new warplanes.

On Sunday January 8, the Government of Canada announced that Defence Minister Anita Anand would be holding a media conference on Monday January 9 “to update Canadians on the Future Fighter Capability Project”.

The Canadian Press now reports: “Anand says Canada is officially buying the F-35 fighter jet to replace its aging CF-18s, ending the years-long search where it first began. The government says Canada will ultimately buy 88 F-35s at an estimated cost of $19 billion, with the first aircraft to be delivered in 2026.”

The decision stands in contrast to the Liberal Party’s 2015 platform (on page 70).

In 2010, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government had announced it would buy 65 F-35 fighter jets for $9 billion.

Global News adds: “While the project budget is $19 billion, officials said in a technical briefing Monday morning that the cost estimate for the lifecycle of these fighter jets is expected to land around $70 billion.”

Le Journal de Montreal also notes: “National Defence estimates that the life-cycle cost of these aircraft over a 30-year period and all associated costs will be $70 billion. This includes maintenance costs and all equipment necessary for the proper functioning of the F-35.”

The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) will be beginning their cost estimate study today with a target publication date in the Spring.

Two years ago, the No Fighter Jet coalition estimated the cost would be $76.8 billion.

Video: Defence Minister Anita Anand speaks at virtual media conference.

Among the concerns still to be addressed:

– The government says new fighter jets are needed to protect “our northern skies”. The report One Dead Pilot: Single-Engine F-35 a Bad Choice for Canada’s Arctic says the F-35 is “problematic for use in Canada’s Arctic and extensive maritime zones.”

– The Department of National Defence (DND) has stated as its justification for the purchase: “As Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine demonstrates, our world is growing darker and more complex.” NATO currently has a fleet of 3,527 fighter jets.

– DND also now argues “replacing the current fighter fleet with the future fighter fleet will not have an adverse impact on the environment.” The F-35 burns about 5,600 litres of jet fuel per hour and has a lifespan of 8,000 hours.

– Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets have flown an estimated 1,598 bombing missions over the last 30 years. DND claims that it has no information about any civilian casualties from these bombings. Prior to becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau criticized the Harper government for its “lack of openness and transparency” on Canadian military engagements.

Further reading: Canada finalizes agreement to purchase new fighter jets for Royal Canadian Air Force (Public Service and Procurement Canada, January 9, 2023).

See also this article by David Pugliese.

Photo: On January 7, 2023, PBI-Canada was present as activists in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en struggle held this banner on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

On January 6, Amnesty International issued this statement: “Four years on from the first large-scale police raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Indigenous land defenders in Canada are still experiencing serious human rights violations as the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline continues on their unceded, ancestral and traditional territories.”

It adds: “Wet’suwet’en land defenders, Hereditary Chiefs and matriarchs are frequently harassed, intimidated, forcibly removed and criminalized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and CGL’s private security guards for peacefully defending their unceded, ancestral and traditional lands.”

It then quotes Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’: “Indigenous peoples have always been criminalized for being who we are and standing up for the yintah. British Columbia and Canada thought they wiped us out or assimilated us enough so they wouldn’t have to use guns to control us anymore. But just like we survived genocide, we survive their militarized raids year after year because we understand the necessity to protect our way of life and life itself.”

Dr. Zosa De Sas Kropiwnicki-Gruber, Director of Research, Advocacy and Policy of Amnesty International Canadian Section (English Speaking), says: “The Canadian government and CGL must immediately withdraw security and policing forces from Wet’suwet’en territory. Their presence severely limits the ability of Wet’suwet’en people to exercise their rights over their traditional territories. All allegations of harassment, intimidation, threats and forced evictions of Indigenous and other land defenders on traditional and unceded Wet’suwet’en territory must be investigated immediately.”

The full Amnesty International statement can be read at Canada: Indigenous land defenders criminalized, surveilled and harassed as pipeline construction continues on Wet’suwet’en territory (January 6, 2023).

Stand.earth has documented: “RBC is among top commercial banks providing the CGL project with working capital, including CAD $275 million in project finance, a co-financed $6.5 billion loan, a $40 million corporate loan, and $200 million in co-financed working capital – while acting as financial advisor for the pipeline.”

Decolonial Solidarity is supporting the Wet’suwet’en struggle by calling on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to divest from Coastal GasLink (CGL).

Photo: RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, January 7, 2019. Photo by Michael Toledano.

Photo: A land defender is tackled to the ground by an RCMP officer on January 7, 2019. Photo by Jesse Winter/Star Metro.

Photo: January 8, 2019, the day after the first RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press.

Global News reports that Jessica Lamirande, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, says that an assessment has been conducted on the “environmental impact” of F-35 fighter jets that includes the “planned capture of emissions”.

The article by Montreal-based reporter Gloria Henriquez notes: “The government says they have conducted an assessment of the jets’ environmental impact, concluding that it would be the same as those of the existing CF-18 aircraft.”

It then quotes Lamirande who says: “In fact, they may be lower as a result of reduced use of hazardous materials, and planned capture of emissions. The analysis supports the conclusion that replacing the current fighter fleet with the future fighter fleet will not have an adverse impact on the environment.”

This report does not appear to be public yet, but the claim is at odds with other commentary in the media about the F-35.

Pounds of fuel

The US Air Force says that the F-35 has an internal fuel capacity of 18,498 pounds with a range of “more than 1,350 miles with internal fuel”. In comparison, an F-18 has an internal fuel capacity of 14,400 pounds and a ferry range of 2,070 miles.

These numbers suggest the F-35 carries more fuel but has a shorter range.

Fuel consumption per hour

In November 2019, the National Interest reported: “Norwegian environmentalists are complaining that the country’s new F-35s, which will replace Norway’s aging fleet of F-16 fighters, will generate too many greenhouse gases.”

The Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen noted: “Average fuel consumption for the new fighter jets is estimated to be as much as 60 percent higher than for today’s fighter jets. For each flight hour, there is 5,600 liters for the F-35, compared to 3,500 liters for the F-16.”

How does this compare with the Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets?

SOFREP has reported: “The Hornet burns approximately 1,100 gallons of jet fuel in an hour.” Converted into litres, that’s about 4,164 litres per hour. It has also been suggested that the average fuel consumption for the CF-18 is 3,500 litres per hour.

Either estimate of CF-18 fuel consumption (3,500 or 4,164 litres per hour) is lower than the F-35 fuel consumption rate (5,600 litres per hour).

Total amount of fuel to be used

Each F-35 is supposed to have a service lifetime of 8,000 hours. One could estimate that 88 fighter jets (the number Canada intends to buy) x 8,000 hours x 5,600 litres of fuel an hour amounts to 3,942,400,000 litres of fuel.

As for Canada’s current fleet, The Fiscal Analysis of the Interim F-18 Aircraft produced by the Parliamentary Budget Officer states: “Petroleum, oil and lubricant costs are calculated by combining historical burn rates per flying hour with costs per litre and projecting total costs over the assumed flight profile of 160 hours per aircraft per year.”

It then notes: “On a non-risk-adjusted basis, …petroleum, oil and lubricant costs are estimated at $102.5 million before accounting for price risk.”

These figures, though they don’t address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions, give important insight into the billions of dollars in costs beyond the $19 billion purchase price the government has stated.

Carbon dioxide emissions in tons

Peter Chow has noted in Sault Online: “At the very least, each F-35 can be expected to annually emit 48.76 tons of Carbon Dioxide.”

He also notes each F-35 would annually emit: “1.63 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs); 1.62 tons of Carbon Monoxide; 1.30 tons of Nitrous Oxide; 13.26 tons of Sulphur Dioxide; 3.26 tons of large particulates; 3.16 tons of small particulates.”

Transparency is needed

Under the Paris Agreement reached at the COP21 climate summit in Paris in 2015, militaries lost their automatic exemption, but were not obligated to cut their emissions and reporting on those emissions was left to the discretion of individual states.

Author Jonathan Cook has also commented: “All too often the figures are disguised – lumped in with emissions from other sectors, such as transport.”

For instance, this article in The Conversation notes: “Canada reports its emissions under multiple IPCC categories, reporting military flights under general transport, and energy for bases under commercial/institutional emissions.”

$525 million for low carbon hangars?

The Global News article also notes: “As for the environmental aspect, Lamirande added the department is taking steps to reduce the potential impacts of the project, such as designing their new facilities as energy-efficient and net-zero carbon.”

Canada’s CF-18s are currently stationed at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Cold Lake in Alberta and CFB Bagotville in Quebec.

The government has previously announced that $21.3 million will be spent on the design of the hangars – $9.2 million for 4 Wing Cold Lake and $12.1 million for 3 Wing Bagotville.

And according to Defence Construction Canada: “The total value of the contract [to build the hangars] is approximately $525 million—$272 million for a 34,500 square metre facility in Cold Lake and $253 million for a 22,000 square metre facility in Bagotville.”

Canadian government should disclose the numbers

Media reports suggest that the Canadian government may have already signed a $7 billion contract with Lockheed Martin for 16 F-35s.

But the public does have a right to know the environmental impact of the F-35 (including the environmental impact of bombing).

Stephen Kretzmann of Oil Change International has stated: “The atmosphere certainly counts the carbon from the military. Therefore we must as well.”

Photo: A CF-18 over Iraq, March 4, 2015.

Ottawa Citizen journalist David Pugliese reports on Canadian military participation in a U.S. military team code-named Talon Anvil responsible for launching tens of thousands of bombs and missiles that killed hundreds of civilians in Iraq and Syria.

His full article can be read at Canadian special forces involved in U.S. military team accused of killing scores of innocent people in Iraq, Syria.

Pugliese notes: “One Canadian special forces soldier was part of the 20-member team in 2015 while other Canadian military personnel played a supporting role or were briefed on its activities, according to documents obtained by this newspaper as well as information provided by military sources.”

While he adds “it is unclear what role, if any, Talon Anvil played in Canada’s airstrikes on Islamic State forces,” he highlights “Canadian CF-18 fighters conducted 251 airstrikes from Oct. 30, 2014 to Feb. 15, 2016. At total of 606 bombs were dropped, mostly on targets in Iraq.”

Reports of civilian casualties

Pugliese notes: “Independent investigators and human rights groups have estimated that at least 7,000 civilians were killed by coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.”

An internal Pentagon document obtained by CBC’s the fifth estate has also revealed that CF-18s may have killed up to 27 civilians during an airstrike on Iraq in January 2015.

That document says: “[Canadian Joint Operations Command Legal Advisor] opinion is that, under the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), there are no obligations for the [Royal Canadian Air Force] to conduct an investigation.”

In October 2015, the CBC also reported: “Canadian fighter planes have now been connected to a second airstrike in Iraq that has been reviewed by the Pentagon for possible civilian casualties, CBC’s the fifth estate has learned.”

Furthermore, the Canadian Press reported in September 2012 that: “[CF-18 fighter jets] eventually flew 10 per cent of all NATO strike missions [in Libya].” In May 2012, Human Rights Watch reported: “NATO air strikes [on Libya] killed at least 72 civilians, one-third of them children under age 18. To date, NATO has failed to acknowledge these casualties or to examine how and why they occurred.”

Transparency and accountability

CNN has reported that the US Defense Department produces an annual report on civilian casualties. And Aljazeera adds: “Before launching air strikes, the US military must navigate elaborate protocols to estimate and minimize civilian deaths.”

Just months before he became Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau commented on CF-18 airstrikes: “One of the things that has been consistent from [the Harper] government has been a lack of openness and transparency, even on issues as important as our engagements around the world with Canadian military forces.”

While Trudeau did withdraw CF-18s from U.S.-led coalition combat missions in Iraq and Syria in November 2015, other Canadian airplanes – notably a Polaris refuelling plane – remained and helped facilitate further coalition airstrikes.

As the Canadian government prepares to spend $76.8 billion on F-35 warplanes, it is legitimate to demand greater transparency on the casualties that have resulted from the 1,598 bombing missions conducted by CF-18s over the past 30 years.

Photo: RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, January 7, 2019. Photo by Michael Toledano.

Ottawa-based CBC journalist Brett Forester reports: “An RCMP squad charged with policing resistance to resource extraction in British Columbia spent nearly $50 million enforcing injunctions obtained by the petroleum and forestry sectors in its first five years, an internal accounting shows.”

Forester highlights: “The figures, released to CBC News under access-to-information law, offer the first publicly available, if rough, estimate of the costs incurred by Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).”

And he comments: “Formed in 2017, the C-IRG has no defined territorial jurisdiction, an unknown number of members, and no set budget. It goes where industry meets land occupations, blockades and civil disobedience. The unit says it needs this flexible mandate to respond to unpredictable protests, but critics fear the C-IRG received a blank cheque and little oversight from governments.”

To read his full article, go to RCMP has spent nearly $50M on policing pipeline, logging standoffs in B.C.

CBC has previously reported: “Provinces and territories pay 70 per cent of the cost of the RCMP’s operations in their jurisdictions, with the federal government contributing the remaining 30 per cent.”

This suggests the Canadian government may have funded $15 million of the policing of these land defence struggles against extractivism.

The Environmental Defence report PAYING POLLUTERS released in April 2021 highlighted: “A particularly egregious form of fossil fuel subsidy are investments made into policing Indigenous land defenders opposing fossil fuel infrastructure.”

It adds: “For example, over $13 million was spent last year on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to ‘protect’ the Coastal GasLink pipeline – which took the form of harassing Wet’suwet’en Nation community members who oppose the pipeline.”

Calls to abolish the RCMP and C-IRG

On November 23, 2021, Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’ emerged from four days in police custody following the RCMP raid on her territory that enabled the continued construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline without free, prior and informed consent.

She said: “C-IRG and the RCMP need to be abolished. Anybody who is not into prison abolition should be after this experience that we’ve had.”

A year later, on November 24, 2022, the BC Federation of Labour unanimously passed a resolution calling for the C-IRG to be disbanded.

We continue to follow this issue.