Sea King RFP “No Big Deal” Says MP Hill

December 17, 2003

Fort St. John, BC – Senior National Defence Critic for the Official Opposition, Jay Hill, today dismissed National Defence Minister David Pratt’s maritime helicopter RFP announcement as a feeble first step that does little to expedite the replacement of Canada’s ageing Sea Kings. 

“We’re a very long way off from actually having a helicopter that flies,” Hill said.  “What we got today from Minister Pratt was a non-announcement.” 

“While the RFP for the Sea King replacement is a necessary first step in a long drawn-out process, there’s no cause for celebration yet.  It took over ten years just to get this far.” 

Hill added that the federal Liberal government seems to have learned nothing from buying “junk” like the Iltis.  “Paul Martin has stated on numerous occasions that he would make sure our military has the best equipment possible, yet he continues to support a procurement process based upon lowest cost-compliant … in other words, the cheapest helicopter.” 

Hill encouraged Minister Pratt and Mr. Martin to change the procurement process to ‘best value’ rather than ‘cheapest cost’.  “That would be real news.” 

"The Minister should hold off his celebrations until he's actually standing on the tarmac beside a new helicopter," Hill concluded.