The Russians are coming! ... Or maybe not

An early morning Arctic encounter between Russian and Canadian aircrafts has the opposition accusing the government of high-flying scare tactics

Critics are accusing Stephen Harper of manufacturing an international incident for political purposes today, after his communications director issued a dramatic early morning press release about the interception by Canadian jets of two Russian bombers near Canada’s northern border.

In a blog today, the Globe and Mail’s Gloria Galloway points out the release was odd because not a month goes by that Canadian and Russian aircraft don’t play chicken over the Arctic. “Why would (Harper) be sending out this kind of missive in the wee hours of the morning?” asks Galloway. “Well, the government did just buy 65 Lockheed-Martin F-35 stealth fighters through an untendered contract worth $9 billion.” The plan to buy the planes was widely criticized as an expensive and unnecessary purchase when it was announced last month.

The opposition quickly pounced on the press release, accusing the government of using scare tactics to convince Canadians into endorsing the jet purchase. The NDP’s defence critic Jack Harris said it was “foolishness” to pretend that our borders were ever under threat. “We're not in the middle of a Cold War, we don't expect the Russians to attack Canada.”

The show of aerial force will appease some of Harper’s critics, however. Only yesterday the Saskatoon Starphoenix ran an editorial lamenting that while he used to criticize the Liberals’ weak stance on Arctic borders, “it's now Prime Minister Harper who gets accused of defending the country's sovereignty with hollow promises and annual Arctic vacations.” Harper is currently on a five-day visit to the North.

Coincidence or not, the incident couldn’t have come at a better time for the Tories. A new report by Project Ploughshares has just been released, and the opposition plans to use it as fuel to grill the Conservatives on the F-35 jets once Parliament reconvenes. The report recommends that Canada wait to buy new planes, as our existing aircraft have just been upgraded, and “the case for a Canadian F-35 order has not been made.”