By Jonah Kondro
Word on the street is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is still getting flack for pulling out the CF-18 fighter jets out of Syria last year. Canada might be getting slammed for our passivity towards the direct war on terror; and it’s unfortunate, though, to say that these wars cost money. I don’t know what the cost of fighter jet fuel is, but I can admit to looking up at those big illuminated signs advertising the price of regular 87 at the pumps when I drive by.
I remember when my father flew helicopters up north in the bush a while back. I used to ask him every now and again questions about aviation. He was flying and fighting forest fires all summer in Quebec; somehow it came up in conversation about the hourly cost of running a helicopter: it was upwards of $1500/hr and the machine dad flew wasn’t that large.
All fuel expenses aside, the sheer cost to maintain a fighter jet mechanically would likely hit the stratosphere too. I used to see the hourly rate the diesel shop charged the customer when I was replacing head gaskets on a Powerstroke engine. It is likely that I would cringe while glancing at the bill for the replacement any of the CF-18’s avionic equipment. The cost of one missile is probably enough to pay for a term’s worth of English classes at RDC. Keeping fighter jets in active duty was likely costing Ottawa a fortune—and the pilots needed a pay cheque too.
I dislike acknowledging that freedom and liberty for humans caught in the conflicts of war cost money; moreover, I suppose Trudeau saw the fuel bill for keeping those fighter jets in the air, and figured it was best to send them (the jets) home.
It isn’t necessary to have to quote the financial section of the metropolitan newspapers to tell you that the price of oil isn’t worth the cost of the barrel it’s stored in. The big cheques aren’t getting sent to Ottawa these days and Trudeau might have to dig a little deeper to be able to afford to send the ultra-high-octane-jet-fuel burning CF-18s back to Syria to help fight the war on terror.
It would be sadly ironic to see ships, jets, trucks, and troops from Canada get sent to fight terrorists after enough tax dollars have been collected from Trudeau’s supposed legalization of marijuana. A freshly baked bank account for the war on terror. They might have to paint over the maple leaf on the side of CF-18s with a pot leaf. The pilots could give the peace sign and shout from the cockpit “don’t worry we’ve got the Sirius satellite radio set on the reggae channel.”
Canada can’t stand idle while terrorism continues to manifest in parts of the world. Canada also won’t be able to stand up straight if marijuana gets legalized. Trudeau will have to find a means of keeping the books balanced in Ottawa, or else physician-assisted suicide will start making more sense.