History repeats itself! Canada loses! - 2006-12-14
In the 1950's Canada produced an jet plane which was the most advanced plane in the world. The Avro Arrow was an all Canadian project with a Canadian designed and manufactured missile system, mounted on a Canadian designed and manufactured airframe, powered by Canadian designed and manufactured jet engines. This plane was without equal in its day for speed, range and altitude abilities which showed that the Canadian aeronautics industry was the best in the world. It was 20 years before any other jet plane manufactured in the world was able to match the specifications of the Arrow.
In February 20, 1959, the Diefenbaker CONSERVATIVE government canceled the Avro Arrow program due to cost. The effect of this decision was most of the designers and engineers involved in the project left Canada and began working in the States and our aeronautics industry was destroyed.
This past summer the Canadian Space Agency asked the CONSERVATIVE industry minister to approve a project offered to Canada by the European Space Agency to design and produce a robotic rover for their Mars mission in 2015. Canada was chosen apparently, because we’re the only country in the world with the technical ability to design and manufacture this project. The rover produced was also expected to be used in the NASA 2020 moon mission to begin colonization of the moon.
In September of 2006, the Harper CONSERVATIVE government declined to approve the project in spite of the fact there would be no additional cost to the government beyond the current budget of the Canadian Space Agency. As I understand it, the government isn’t willing to guarantee the current budget of our space agency let alone its future.
The loss of this project, probably to the US, will be in addition to the loss of the engineers who would design it and technicians who would build it, to wherever the project ends up.
What’s with CONSERVATIVE governments? They seem to prefer our brightest minds and best technology be exported to the benefit of other countries than make Canada a leading country in technologies.
The conservatives are quite fond of complaining about prior waste and corruption but I don’t remember the Liberals giving away a Billion dollars to the USA nor do I recall them destroying an industry. These seem to be "conservative values".
