Lockheed Martin, the U.S. defence giant that builds the F-35 fighter jet, has offered to create more jobs in Canada if Ottawa buys all the jets it said it would when the $19-billion contract to buy 88 warplanes was announced in 2023,
The Globe and Mail reports.
Prime Minister Mark Carney threw that contract into doubt late last week when he ordered a review of the purchase agreement amid concerns about the ongoing trade war with the United States.
On another note, Carney is poised to call a snap federal election Sunday for an expected vote on April 28, two sources say.
The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP have already booked campaign planes and buses, and their war rooms are set up in the expectation of the Sunday election call.
Ahead of the election campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre today defended his party’s plan, announced this week, to not allow journalists, paying their own way, to travel with him during the campaign.
For decades, political parties have allowed members of the media such access, and other parties are planning to do so in the coming campaign.
“We will have open media across the country. Local media will have the ability to ask questions. It will be refreshing to hear from local outlets and what they have to say about their local priorities,” Poilievre said during a stop in Quebec’s Saguenay region, where he promoted the revival of a $14-billion liquefied natural gas project, pledging to create “shovel-ready zones” for resource projects across Canada.
