Calgary & Alberta Economy

[CalgaryTiger]

That'd be a big win for Canada and Alberta would probably get a piece. Probably contingent on us selecting the Gripen over the F-35

Saab considers Canada as site for Gripen jet assembly to meet demand from Ukraine

OTTAWA — Swedish aerospace giant Saab is considering Canada as a place to assemble Gripen fighter jets as it moves to quickly ramp up production to meet the demand from Ukraine. Saab’s CEO Micael Johansson said in recent interviews with financial news publications that Kyiv’s interest in...

toronto.citynews.ca

Is there any chance this could happen here? I assume 1% and 99% it would be in Quebec. If they even end up assembling them in Canada.

 

[Mountain Man]

Would be amazing to have something like that here! but yeah, 1% tops.

 

[Chowda7]

Would be amazing to have something like that here! but yeah, 1% tops.

I can see Alberta getting a bigger share if Canada selects the Saab Globaleye which is built using a bombardier plane

So assuming we select the Gripen that would be ~200 fighters plus an undetermined number of awacs planes. Thats a lot of capacity for 1 province to absorb. Not including stockpiling spare parts

 

[darwink]

selecting the Gripen over the F-35

not an either or. A yes, and scenario.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

not an either or. A yes, and scenario.

I wondered if this was SAAB feeling like they lost out to the F-35 again and putting Canada's name out there as a "we could've assembled in Canada if you chose us". It could also be that SAAB has gotten a feeling that Canada will say yes to the F-35 and also add in some Gripens and they've been told to look at how they could actually do this.

I assume Carney will be trying to thread the US versus the world needle for Trump's whole tenure, including with his upcoming meeting with the Chinese President: Yes, we'll allow you to sell Chinese EVs in Canada, by accepting European standards for cars, that will also allow more European car manufacturers to sell their vehicles in Canada. BUT only if you start assembling those cars in Ontario, we will not accept surplus Chinese-made EVs to flood the market.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Is there any chance this could happen here? I assume 1% and 99% it would be in Quebec. If they even end up assembling them in Canada.

Or maybe Ontario, with the way things have been going with the auto industry.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Two lines from this stuck out to me...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-china-carney-trade-talks-9.6961276

A readout of the discussion from the Prime Minister’s Office said both leaders directed their officials to move quickly “to resolve outstanding trade issues and irritants.”
The statement went on to say they discussed “solutions to respective sensitivities regarding issues including agriculture and agri-food products, such as canola, as well as seafood and electric vehicles.”

I wonder how quickly officials can resolve these, their existence is either at the request of the US (EVs) or as a retaliation for abiding by the request? So, in theory, they could be removed soon with a change to our stance Chinese EVs but any change will have to be carefully executed. I've pondered a change to our safety standards to adopt European ones and open our markets up to models, both European and Chinese, that we currently do not allow. If the US wants to build up their vehicle manufacturing, so can we by building and exporting to Europe. Granted, there likely isn't a huge market for Canadian-made Chinese branded vehicles to Europe but the market can't be zero, especially if those boats come back with European-made European branded vehicles.

 

[MichaelS]

Selfishly I hope they drop all barriers to Chinese EVs... I want a Xaomi XU7 so badly!

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

not an either or. A yes, and scenario.

For NORAD duties I think a mix of f35 and Typhoons would be better. There's a lot of area to cover in Canada, so there's a lot of value to a jet that can go really fast if needed.

F35 is great for being leading edge high tech, but that also comes with high maintenance, and the program has it problems, so a second fleet of aircraft isn't unreasonable so the CAF isn't completely crippled by a bad software update or parts shortages.

While I really like the Gripen for what it is, I like the idea of a Canadian Gripen industry even more!
They are a more flexible aircraft too, opens up new uses beyond doing NORAD duties. Latest news is the CF wants to increase the reserves to 100k. Gripen would be a perfect aircraft for air force reserve units..

The city and province should be lobbying the feds hard to get in on this, and make sure all the SAAB executives get VIP invites to the next stampede!

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

Or maybe Ontario, with the way things have been going with the auto industry.

There are other programs that would be a better fit for former auto factories. Domestic heavy trucks, a Caesar artillery clone, increased LAV production, etc.

If the feds want to do something to boost the domestic auto industry, how about changing the EV mandate to an aluminum body mandate, so Canadians can get vehicles that don't rot away after a few winters. No brainer politically as Québec would get a big piece of the action too.