The Canadian government can’t really be serious about dropping the fabled Snowbirds aerobatic team from the list of military efforts they currently support.
Alas, the conversation is happening, again, and again. It seems as if the fans of this long-lasting Canadian ego-boosting team of flyers and their aging jets, need to start lobbying their members of Parliament and the government’s Defence Department with swaths of common sense arguments in favour of retention.
We are proud of our famous flyers in their ancient Tutor jets and we have been for five decades. This was evident at their recent Estevan appearance when thousands showed up to view the 45-minute show.
At one time, Canada proudly displayed the talents of another well-respected military team of jet-flying aerobatics known as the Golden Hawks. But they lost favour with the government of the day in the late 1960s, and died an unnatural death. A tribute statue to their heydays, a Golden Hawk jet, was parked in front of the civic arena in Trenton, Ontario, to remind us all of that particular folly of government eliminating something that should have been retained.
Shortly after the demise of the Golden Hawks, the Snowbirds were born. It was 1971 to be precise. The government gurus had learned their lesson. We needed a symbol of Canada’s pride and place in the military complex, and the Snowbirds would be our ambassadors.
Now, it seems, the rumour mill is churning in Ottawa that, along with all the other trimming going on in the Canadian military, they should probably say goodbye to the Snowbirds and their $4.3-million annual budget. Besides, the Tutors are old. Forget the fact there are plenty of replacement parts for these old jets, enough to keep them flying for another 20 to 30 years, if need be. They are so old now, they’ve gained a new level of interest and respect among flying fans who relish the antiquity that goes along with the expertise.
The fears of folding are real. After all, Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Moose Jaw, the home of the Snowbirds, has already been relegated to a private/public partnership situation with flying instruction and training planes now being provided by a private contractor, rather than the Canadian military. Embarrassing, but true.
Stack that reality on top of the fact that the Canadian government is on the verge of spending untold hundreds of millions of dollars for the new American-made F-35 fighter planes that have a dubious record of quality and performance, even before they get the first dozen off the assembly line, and you can appreciate the immense pressure the defence department is under to find some money, anywhere they can, to save some face.
The forever sinking British submarines we bought 15 or 20 years ago that are still unworkable, haven’t exactly been our standard bearers for military might and pride now, have they? Nor have our troop-carrying armoured units we are selling to Saudia Arabia to be used in questionable war zones and activities, elevated our status on the military front.
Nope, all we really have are the Snowbirds.
Now they are an endangered species.
Say it ain’t so Harjit.
We need them more than ever.
We can only think of one other military-like unit that brings forth as much pride as the Snowbirds, and that’s the RCMP Musical Ride. Who knows, they might be next to be threatened with trash pile status if this federal government continues to bleed money on dubious adventures.
The Snowbirds are a known quantity, and we believe they give the government and Canadians, in general, great value for the money, and that’s even before we calculate the pride factor.
