Immediate release

March 14, 2025

Pressure grows on Carney to cancel F-35 contract 

Portugal’s decision to abandon its F-35 purchase adds to mounting pressure on new Prime Minister Mark Carney to cancel Canada’s fighter jet deal with Lockheed Martin. “Amidst Donald Trump’s economic siege and annexationist threats, it is outrageous Canada is paying a US military giant tens of billion dollars for 88 fighter jets”, declared Tamara Lorincz, a fellow of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. 

On Thursday Portugal announced it was canceling its plan to purchase the F-35. The government cited concerns about US reliability and control over the planes’ logistics and parts.

On Thursday former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy added his voice to a rapidly growing number of Canadians speaking out on the F-35. Since Tuesday more than 3000 individuals have emailed Carney to call on him to cancel the contract for the offensive fighter jet. The campaign calls on individuals to “Stop Canada’s plan to spend billions on U.S.-made & controlled weapons of war.”

On Tuesday Bloc Québécois leader Yves Francois-Blanchet said he’s open to canceling the F35 contract in response to Trump’s belligerence. Blanchet expressed concern about a “switch off controlled in the US” for Canada’s fighter jets.

Last week Michael Byers published a column in the Globe and Mail calling on the government to cancel the F-35 contract. On Thursday Globe and Mail and CBC columnist Andrew Coyne added his voice to the growing list of individuals questioning the F-35 contract.

“It is unfathomable Canada would move ahead with purchasing 88 wildly expensive F-35 fighter jets the U.S. would effectively control,” said Rachel Small, Canada Organizer for World BEYOND War. “These are the same weapons of war that Canadians have watched in horror over the past 17 months routinely dropping 2000 pounds on Gaza, razing cities and refugee camps. The more Canadians learn about F-35s, the more they want nothing to do with them.”

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