Snowbirds down

"Rob McDonald" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote in
:

[ ... ]
They will continue on after this , just like all the teams must do.
[ ... ]
Dave

I hope you are right. The government has been trying to disband them for a
few years. There was enough public outcry last time that they backed off.
This morning's paper says that following the crash our defense minister is
already talking about shutting them down again.


The Minister's actual terminology was something like "will re-evaluate the
program". They have always been "grounded" following any accident, I
believe, until the investigation is done.

The Minister's remarks were in response to the usual probing by mindless
reporters bringing up the aging hardware, 10 million annual cost, and past
accidents (like 5 deaths since 1971, now doing 60 shows a year.). In the
chronology, the media even included a pilot killed in a car accident, just
to fatten it up (that would make 6).

The cost has always been a thorn for the Government, but I am hoping his
words were so the media would have something to take away, while at the same
time being code for "business as usual once the investigation is done".

The problem is that even some military grumble that this is not a *military*
unit, and they are right, it isn't. It is pure PR that the military happens
to fund and staff. But we have to believe that sane people in the
Government of Canada and their Military will realize that their 10 Mil is
buying a lot more REAL National PR pride... than that other PR project we
know so well:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ational/Canada
The 250 million that went into thin air could have funded them for the next
25 years.