MDA morass takes another victim

As the MacDonald Detwiller saga wends its way to the obvious conclusion that the US arms dealer ATK will eventually suck it up, another respected Canadian has been sucked into the vortex and spit out with.. eerr... spit on his shirt.

John Reid is the long time president of the Canadian Advanced Technology Association (CATA). He has been president since the invention of the cathode ray tube and he has just run afoul of of his fellow Canadians. John feels that the government of Canada should refrain from interfering in the transaction between ATK and MDA because the shoe might be on the other foot one day.

Have a nice retirement John. You will be missed.

Can you imagine the stink that would rise in Washington if a Canadian company decided to buy Boeing or Lockheed or Raytheon? Think that the Americans would say, "we had better refrain lest the shoe be on the other foot one day?" Not a chance.

MDA is gone. So is RADARSAT2, Canadarm, Dexter, David Florida Labs, Canadian aerospace jobs and billions of taxpayers dollars. It may take a bit of time to finalize the deal but they are gone. Harper will not protect Canada. Get used to it.

Taxpayers are being hosed to death by co-investment programs such as the Technology Partnership Program (TPP). The federal program loans billions of dollars to companies, including the Canadian branches of multinationals, but only sees 5-8% of the loans repaid. I wonder of MDA owes money under the TPP and if ATK will repay it? I wonder also if MDA, as a subsidiary of ATK, will grunt at the federal TPP trough in the future?

We need iron-clad agreements with companies who get TPP. If they get sold, they should repay the loans immediately. If the company goes bankrupt, TPP should be at the top of the creditors list (even higher than the greedy bloody banks). If the company cannot agree with these terms, then no TPP. If your renege on paying back the loan within the stringent timeframe established, you get sued and are disqualified from further TPP funding in the future.

TPP was a good program in theory. Unfortunately the execution of it stinks.

Bye, buy, MDA

The 2008 principles of the Conservative party, Canada's Greatest Government(TM), the party of Sir John Eh?, the party of openness and accountability (even though the PM is the only one who is allowed to be open and accountability amounts to blaming everything on past governments), are up on their web site. (see http://www.conservative.ca/EN/2692/41593). It is a long document and mostly fatuous, but I direct you to one section in particular.

Section V (that's "5" for those who missed the lectures on Roman Numerals) concerns:

NATIONAL DEFENCE AND SECURITY

Subsection 109 concerns Canada First Defence Policy

Item viii) (8) states that "The Conservative Party believes that a viable Canadian Defence Industry contributes to our national security and our industrial productivity, through such sectors as shipbuilding, aerospace, electronics, and land systems among others. Defence procurement will, subject to availability, quality and cost, support Canadian industry that can meet military requirements."

Now let's try to square this statement of principles with the government's resounding endorsement of the sell off of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) to an American firm. MDA has benefited from millions, if not billions, of Canadian taxpayers dollars in the development of such assets as Canadarm, Canadarm2 and RADARSAT-2. These Canadian innovations are state-of-the-art, cream-of-the-crop, and numero uno in the aerospace industry. They were paid for by Canadians and will now belong to Americans.

According to MDA web site for RADARSAT2: "RADARSAT-2 is the product of a unique partnership between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)."

I think that the key word is "partnership" with Canadian Space Agency. What is the nature of that "partnership"? Does the CSA have any ownership rights to RADARSAT-2? If so, what do they get from the sell off? If nothing, why not?

And what of our arm-out-the-window into space. Every (OK, most) Canadian knows about the Canadarm that is an integral part of the Space Shuttle. We see our name and flag enblazened on the arm. Now that Canadarm is American, I guess the flag will be removed and the arm will be referred to as the remote manipulator device. What the heck, the Americans call it that now, anyway.

And what of Canadarm2, a truly amazing device that was just launched to the International Space Station (ISS). Remote Manipulator Device 2, I guess.

And what of Canada's involvement with the ISS? Are we left to supplying experiments to see if rats can copulate in space or the effects of weightlessness on spider webs?

And what of the federally-owned David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa? The Canadarm and RADARSAT were developed there. The Florida Lab has had a tenuous future ever since the CSA was moved to Montreal a bunch of years ago. Are we seeing the end of the Florida Lab? (Can you say AVRO Arrow?)

If I were a Conservative MP or a potential Con election candidate, I would be asking PM Harper for some talking points on this topic. A warning to them, though; don't make up comments of your own. Leave the content of your comments to the open PMO and make sure that you make past governments accountable for whatever happens.