TORONTO—Congratulations to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals on securing their majority.

Now, please, please, pick a fighter jet already. No one can stop you! 

This isn’t the first time I’ve made this exact plea in these very pages. It was just last September that I begged the prime minister to get around to picking a jet to replace the CF-18s that are now older than me, and very much to my own surprise, I am no longer young. 

Canada has committed to its initial purchase of 16 F-35s and has begun payments on the next 14. That’s a total of 30 either confirmed or semi-confirmed out of a planned total purchase of 88 replacement jets.

But while we’re moving ahead with the first 30, we’re dragging our heels on the remaining 58. Officially, the entire project is under review. The real explanation is that, given the bonkersification of the United States and the deep unpopularity of U.S. President Donald Trump in this country, there are practical and political risks to moving ahead with a full purchase of expensive American military hardware at this time. It would give the erratic U.S. president leverage over us in trade talks, and it would, simply put, look awkward for the PM.

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