Matt Gurney: For over a decade multiple governments bungled efforts to replace the navy's supply ships. It all led to the current case now haunting the Liberals.
Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie is an impressive guy. He’s a former commander of the Canadian Army and currently a Liberal MP for an Ottawa-area riding. On Friday, CTV reported that Leslie, who is not running again, was willing to testify on behalf of his old friend Vice-Admiral Mark Norman—testify, that is, against the government he’s a member of.
But what is absolutely surprising is just how dysfunctional and bizarre the entire story is. In a weird way, we can trace this all the way back to former prime minister Paul Martin. The story is that twisted and long. This was already causing problems for the Liberals. Norman is a highly respected officer with many well-connected friends, none of whom were pleased when the Prime Minister seemed to prejudge Norman’s guilt, or when Norman was denied access to a fund that helps members of the public service who are charged with crimes relating to their jobs. An online fundraiser for his legal bills, at time of writing, stands just shy of $400,000.
That little summary above, though, only deals with the recent context. This has roots that go all the way back to 2004. But the 2004 announcement was unusual. Canada wasn’t just going to replace its supply ships. It was going to procure a new kind of vessel. They would carry fuel and food and missiles for Canadian and allied ships at sea. But they would also have significant additional capabilities, which National Defence had long sought. They would be capable of sustaining a small helicopter air wing and transporting an army combat force into battle half the world away—troops, equipment, everything.
Meanwhile, in 2014, one of our existing supply ships caught fire and had to be towed back to Canada by the United States. Also in 2014, the last supply ship was deemed too rusted to sail. Both ships were retired in 2015. Eleven years was simply not enough time for Canada to replace two ships whose replacement everyone agreed was an urgent military priority.
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