OTTAWA — The RCMP has renewed the contracts for 3 Black Hawk helicopters to patrol the Canada-U.S. border, regardless of
accusations by the trade affiliation that the contracts
are the other of the federal government’s “elbows up” strategy and that the choppers don’t meet the federal government’s personal security rules.
RCMP spokesman Andrew DiRienzo confirmed that the federal police has determined to rehire the three helicopters for not less than the subsequent three months. The contracts for the second-hand helicopters, bought by non-public contractors after the U.S. navy determined to replace a lot of its personal fleet, kicked in on Canada Day.
The brand new contracts comply with a Nationwide Put up investigation that exposed that 4 Black Hawks have been bought by Canadian contractors who then signed patrolling contracts with the RCMP for 3 of them. The opposite was employed by the Alberta authorities.
The present RCMP contracts for 3 of the choppers, price an estimated $16 million, expired June 30.
Paperwork confirmed that the Canadian helicopter trade had accused Ottawa of breaking its personal guidelines, for instance, by permitting the used choppers to hold passengers and even flying over developed areas. The Black Hawks have been used largely to patrol the border looking for unlawful migrants, drug smugglers and different illicit actions.
Trevor Mitchell, chief government of the Helicopter Affiliation of Canada (HAC), mentioned he was very stunned that the RCMP would signal one other contract to lease the American Black Hawks, whereas Canadian producers supply rival merchandise that may do not less than pretty much as good a job. “I can’t see how any of this transpires into an elbows-up coverage, or a Canada-first coverage.”
Based on the federal government’s Canadian Civil Plane Register, the 4 Sikorsky Black Hawk UH 60As have been imported into Canada between 2022 and final 12 months. They have been granted extremely uncommon particular exemptions by Transport Canada that, in accordance with a sequence of letters to senior authorities officers from the Canadian helicopter affiliation, allowed the 4 choppers to do non-military jobs in Canadian air area.
In a March 20 letter to Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, the affiliation mentioned even the circumstances hooked up to the exemptions haven’t been adopted. “We urge you to direct your division to make sure the protection restrictions hooked up to those plane are strictly enforced for the steadiness of the RCMP’s contract and that the Power be urged to pick an authorized plane earlier than the contract expires.”
HAC additionally says that the twin-engine Black Hawks didn’t include “kind certificates,” which act like recipe books for brand new house owners in that they supply particulars in regards to the plane’s elements and the way it ought to be maintained.
Freeland has not responded to interview requests on this topic for the final three weeks. A spokesperson has not responded to particular questions however as an alternative launched a ready assertion that emphasised the significance of security. The assertion additionally mentioned that the exemptions from Transport Canada allowed the plane to function in Canada in specialised roles “topic to strict circumstances,” similar to not being allowed to hold fare-paying passengers or cargo.
Regardless of its reluctance to debate the matter, the federal authorities is properly conscious of the state of affairs involving the Black Hawks and the trade’s considerations.
Within the spring of 2024, following interactions with HAC, former Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez directed his officers to pause the issuing of particular exemptions for the Black Hawks. However in September of that 12 months, Rodriguez resigned from the federal cupboard to run for chief of the Quebec Liberal get together.
He was changed at Transport for about seven months by Anita Anand, now the International Affairs minister. She was then changed within the new 12 months by Chrystia Freeland, after Mark Carney turned prime minister. Neither Anand nor Freeland has clarified the federal government’s view of the state of affairs or publicly commented on the particular exemptions for the Black Hawks.
Though the Black Hawk contracts pre-date the re-election earlier this 12 months of U.S. President Donald Trump, Canada’s enhanced border patrol is in sync with the White Home’s escalation of concern about unlawful migrants and unlawful medication getting into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.
However it’s not like there aren’t different – even home – choices past Black Hawks.
Mitchell says Canada has about 200 firms that provide helicopter providers and pilots to fly them. Their collective fleets comprise about 1,700 choppers, lots of which is likely to be higher suited than Black Hawks for patrol duties as a result of they’re smaller and geared up with infra-red cameras that permit them to work at nighttime.
The navy and the RCMP even have their very own fleets. But when the RCMP’s personal helicopters weren’t sufficient, Mitchell mentioned, it might don’t have any drawback discovering non-public contractors to assist them patrol.
Helicopters are valued for his or her versatility and mobility. In Canada, they’re largely used for search and rescue, combating forest fires, serving to fight floods, and industrial functions in distant areas similar to mining and electrical strains.
However five-seat helicopters are sometimes used for patrol as a result of they’re extra nimble and cheaper to function than a bigger, 14-seater similar to Sikorsky’s Black Hawk.
Based on a February 10 letter by HAC to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, the choppers haven’t been authorised by Canadian or American authorities for civilian functions.
The RCMP’s Black Hawk contracts overlap with Carney’s vow to extend Canada’s navy spending in order that it reaches the NATO goal of two per cent of gross home product (GDP). Carney has additionally vowed to do extra to assist Canadian enterprise and to rely much less on the U.S.
Trade sources say the older Black Hawks have been promoting in latest months for about $1 million every, because the market turned flooded with provide. The marketplace for used helicopters has grown in recent times because the U.S. navy has modernized its fleet, together with the acquisition of a more moderen mannequin of Black Hawks, known as the UH-60M.
That has pushed numerous older, however nonetheless practical Black Hawks to the second-hand market. Costs of recent and used plane fluctuate broadly, relying on a spread of things. However a brand new five-seat helicopter, together with these made in Canada, sells for about $6.5 million, whereas a brand new 14-seater, comparable in measurement to the Black Hawks, goes for about $12 million.
Bell Textron, a subsidiary of Fort Value, Tex.-based Textron, makes industrial helicopters at its Mirabel, Que. amenities. Its lineup of fashions consists of the Bell 412, which could possibly be used for border patrol.
Airbus Helicopters Canada, previously MBB Helicopter Canada, has a 300-employee web site at Fort Erie, Ont. That location focuses largely on gross sales, restore, engineering and composite manufacturing.
The Black Hawk, made by Sikorsky Plane, is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift chopper within the “navy utility” product area of interest. Stratford, Conn.-based Sikorsky was based by the Russian-American aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923.
Carney, in the meantime, issued a press release earlier this month saying that Canada plans to spice up its defence spending by $9.3 billion to $54.3 billion. The cash will probably be used on a spread of things, together with submarines, ships, armoured autos and plane, in addition to new drones and sensors for monitoring the Arctic and seafloor.
Within the authorities’s newest sign that it intends to create a ways from the U.S. since Trump imposed a variety of debilitating tariffs on Canadian exports, Carney mentioned Canada desires to cut back how a lot of its defence funds goes to purchases of American gear. The prime minister has mentioned that about 75 per cent of Canada’s capital spending on defence heads to the U.S.
Nationwide Put up
Ottawa in ‘severe breach’ in permitting used choppers to patrol border, trade says
How the RCMP and CBSA are attempting to satisfy Trump’s calls for on border safety
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