And

I'm going to put that in my office after this podcast, and I'm going to use that as a reminder of the job that I have ahead of me.

That's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to do that.

I'm going to, uh, get that and, and just, just remind myself that this is, uh, this is a job that, uh, you know, maybe nobody wants and, uh, and I, I'm willing to do it and I'm willing to have it.

So, uh, next time you're in Ottawa or, or you're, you're in Moose Jaw, I'm going to have a plunger for each, for each office.

I'm going to go and do that today.

or better yet, if you were the minister right now, if conservatives are in power, you were the minister, what's the top two, maybe three things that you would change right

What else is going on in your riding?

Yeah, well, thanks for asking, Graham.

I mean, you know, recently I pay attention to what's going on in the local news and heard a disappointing report that the local food bank, it's had challenges for the last couple of years, but now they're actually going to be interviewing people in order to give out food.

And, you know, being the breadbasket of the world, this country, you see that it's disappointing.

People are finding it hard to make donations.

They don't have the extra money to do so.

And then the food bank is having a hard time.

And you're mayor, and so what's your solution?

Hmm

... uh, until we got new aircraft in, in our inventory.

So, y- you know, we've thrown out good money there, and we're throwing out $30 million that actually kept the jets flying to 2030.

So why are we throwing that away, and why are we grounding the jets now? If there was a problem with the jets, the squadron would've raised their hands and would've said, "We've got a problem.

We can't fly these jets.

We need to ground them." Or, uh, the engineer within, within the team would've said, you know, the chief engineer, "We can't do this." But that's not what we heard.

What we heard was from the government, and there's no desire, and at a time when we need to, uh, you know, fly our flag more and, and hold onto the emblems and iconic, uh, emblems that are, are within our country.

Do you think that they made a mistake by going with this Swiss plane? Are you worried that it might not have the same sparkle as the current, uh, iteration of the Snowbirds has had?

So should this announcement that was made today perhaps have come years earlier, or should that $30 million have gone further?

Well, that's a great question to ask, and this goes to the heart of how the Liberal government has... you know, run this military into the ground.

Truthfully, we had Hawk trainers that used to fly out here and they used to land in Regina that had 26,000 hours of flying time that could have been used as an interim stopgap measure for the snowbirds.

Instead, they were sent to Borden to be cannibalized and used for training purposes for aircraft technicians and mechanics.

So we've had options.

and I know firsthand that the military was given a request for upgrading the ejection seats that are used in the T-37 Cessna Tweet down in the U.S., and they rejected to move forward on that.

They've upgraded the cockpits to be glass cockpits.

Talk to me about the specific Moose Jaw reaction to this and what you have been hearing from people on the ground and what you think the general feeling is that's hanging over the air of Moose Jaw today.

Uh, so MP, can you talk a bit about, uh, how this came to light for you and, and why you're so bulldog-ish on this topic?

Yeah.

Well, that's a, that's a great term, 'cause that's kind of a nickname I've had is Bulldog.

But, uh, um, yeah, th- I mean, this is, this has been festering for a little bit, uh, you know, to be quite honest with you.

And I've had some concerns because, uh, the Liberal government has been dilly-dallying with the F-35, um, uh, joint strike fighter that, that, you know, we're supposed to be purchasing.

And it's not the first time that they've messed around with contracts.

The EH101 helicopter, which they canceled then they bought, and, uh, you know, they've canceled the F-35 10 years ago, and now they're buying it.

Mm-hmm.