(Adds comment from Conservative party)
TORONTO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Canadian Liberal leader Justin
Trudeau said on Sunday his party would scrap a program to buy
advanced F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) LMT.N if it wins
power in the Oct. 19 federal election.
The party said in a statement it would launch an open and
transparent competition to replace Canada's aging CF-18 fighter
jets. It said a Liberal government would not purchase the F-35
stealth fighter-bomber.
"Our (military) commitments will, among other things, ensure
that the Royal Canadian Navy is able to operate as a blue water
fleet well into the future," Trudeau said in a statement.
"By choosing to replace the existing CF-18s with a more
affordable aircraft than the F-35s, we will be able to guarantee
the delivery of current procurements for the navy."
Canada's ruling Conservatives announced a deal in 2010 to
buy 65 advanced F-35 jets, but abandoned the plan in 2012 after
a probe found officials had deliberately downplayed the costs
and risks of the deal.
The Conservative minister of veterans affairs, Erin O'Toole,
said the Liberal Party was turning cutting the military into a
political gimmick.
"By politicizing procurement projects and claiming to
streamline spending, Mr. Trudeau is actually showing that giving
our men and women in uniform the equipment they need is not a
priority," he said in a statement.
The right-leaning Conservatives, who have ruled the country
for nearly a decade, are in a tight three-way race with the
center-left Liberals and New Democratic Party.