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of snowbirds and buffalo
As if buffalo aren't rare enough, leave it to the Canadian government to consider adding Snowbirds to the national list of endangered species.
Recently the government released its Defense Planning 2000 report, in which it emphasized a need to cut the military budget by a further 10% over the next five years. The Buffalo search-and-rescue aircraft that have become a fixture on the mountainous west coast, will be eliminated. And the Canadian Forces 431 Air Demonstration squadron, commonly known as the Snowbirds, may be phased out as well.
In the movie "Dudley Do Right," based on the cartoon series of the same name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are made to look like idiots. The movie would be a lot funnier if it poked fun at the real source of most Canadians' troubles: the federal government. A bloated bureaucracy, it feeds at the public trough with outrageous political pensions, hits its citizens with some of the highest taxes in the world, announces billions of dollars of budget surplus, and then claims there isn't enough money in the budget to properly support a seriously undersized military. With the longest coastline of any nation in the world, Canada has a tiny navy with a single truly modern warship. Most military bases within a day's drive of the coast have been dismantled.
Now that the Navy and Army have been decimated, the government is setting its sights on the Air Force.
The Coast Mountain range is an awesome vista of snow-covered peaks that reaches from Alaska all the way down through British Columbia into Washington state. Extending right to the water's edge, these rugged mountains draw hikers from around the world. In addition, they provide a breathtaking coastline unmatched in the world that draws boaters by the thousands. Princess Louisa Inlet, said to be the most awe-inspiring place anyone can moor a boat, brings dozens of new visitors every week from spring through fall. Every year throughout this region there are dozens of incidents requiring major search and rescue efforts: aircraft down, boats capsized, missing and injured hikers.
The Buffalo search and rescue aircraft are ideally suited for this mountainous terrain. Yet they will get the ax, to be replaced eventually by the Cormorant helicopters and Hercules aircraft. The Hercules is not well suited for this kind of environment, and is just as old an aircraft as the Buffalo. But in the interest of budget cuts designed to make the Canadian military less than half the size it was in 1991, the Buffalo will become extinct.
Just as disturbing is the fate of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds flight demonstration team. This nine-plane team is considered by many--myself included--to be the finest flight demonstration team in the world. Though not as fast or noisy as the US Navy Blue Angels, the Snowbirds' maneuvers are more complex and far more difficult than those of the Blue Angels, and just as tightly performed. Throughout the summer, this team lifts the hearts and spirits of Canadians everywhere. Across North America, the Snowbirds represent the one recognizable Canadian characteristic: a passion for excellence. Young boys and girls are awed at the sight of these jets wheeling and spinning in the sky, their distinctive red and white colors flashing in the sunlight. How many have been inspired to learn to fly because of a Snowbirds performance? Many of today's CF-18 pilots, when interviewed by the media, indicate that it was a Snowbirds demonstration that first gave them the dream to fly jets.
In the Defense Planning 2000 report, the Snowbirds have no future beyond the year 2000. The Air Force is phasing out the CT-114 Tutor jet, moving instead to NATO's standard training jet, the Goshawk. But at $20 million each, the Goshawk is considered too costly for use by the Snowbirds. So there's a serious effort by some in the military bureacracy to strike out the Snowbirds as if this were a mere line item in a list. No aircraft have been assigned to the Snowbirds beyond 2000, and no budget has been set aside. Just like that, they may quietly be eliminated while those responsible for this pathetic lack of common sense look forward to pensions that would be illegal in the private sector. No consideration is given to the public relations impact the Snowbirds represent. Indeed, it seems to me that they're the only reason left to have any faith in Canada's crumbling military defense structure.
Like the emperor's new clothes, the Canadian government is oblivious to the fact that the country's military isn't wearing much, and is about to throw off the final bit of decent clothing that remained.
If you're as concerned about losing the Snowbirds as I am, please call or write to your Member of Parliament.
