(Ottawa) Whether it’s a Canadian or an American fighter jet that manages to shoot down invading objects in North American space, what matters is the result, Justin Trudeau argued Monday.
Posted 1:20pm Updated 1:37pm
“We are less concerned about who will get the loan and much more concerned about the outcome,” the prime minister said at a press conference in a hangar at Whitehorse Airport in the Yukon, with two Canadian Forces planes stationed on the snow-covered tarmac in the background.
He stated that Washington and Ottawa conducted last Saturday’s operation together, arguing that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) should operate in exactly the same way.
“Canadian and American warplanes were launched to intercept and then shoot down the object,” and “the order was that whoever had the best option could shoot down that object quickest,” argues the prime minister.
“It’s a great example of how [NORAD] works well,” he concluded. The prime minister’s trip to the Yukon was planned ahead of the operation to destroy the object flying over Canadian territory by a NORAD fighter jet.
“worrying”
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre sees these intrusions into Canadian airspace as evidence of the Trudeau government’s inaction. The liberals “have failed to combat the growing threats, particularly those from the Communist Party in Beijing, in recent years,” he accused.
“The cancellation [par les libéraux] F-35 fighter jets have lost years and billions of dollars that could have been invested in our armed forces. If Canada had owned these jets, we wouldn’t be so vulnerable and unprepared for danger,” he added in a statement.
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet agrees: Canada’s armed forces are under-staffed. But on the other hand, he thinks what is currently happening in the skies of North America is “worrying”.
“It is not trivial that we need to send warplanes to shoot down objects flying over the space of North American territory, be it Canada or the United States. It will never be easy, it will never be trivial,” he said at a parliamentary press conference on Monday.
“And it seems to be reminiscent of China’s practices towards Taiwan and China’s practices towards Japan, which quite regularly make provocations by invading the airspace,” the block leader said.
“Obviously there is a trend”
Four flying objects of different shapes were shot down in North American skies in about a week.
“There is clearly a trend [pattern] Justin Trudeau commented on the serial robberies. The first of these, a Chinese balloon shot down off North Carolina on February 5, earned the Chinese ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, a summons to Ottawa.
Efforts to locate the debris from the crashed object are still ongoing, he said. However, they are not wealthy as the large area has to be scoured by land search teams, the premier said.