EDITORIAL: Carney leaves Snowbirds running out of runway

This isn’t the time to cancel one of our bravest symbols.

Published May 08, 2026  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  2 minute read

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds fly over Kingston while en route to the Gatineau Airshow in Kingston, Ont. on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Elliot Ferguson /Postmedia Network

The fate of the Snowbirds, those awe-inspiring Royal Canadian Air Force aeronautical acrobats who have thrilled this country since 1971, is up in the air.

Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan MP Fraser Tolmie told reporters this week that while the Snowbirds have a full schedule of appearances this year, airshows have been told they won’t be available in 2027.

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“For 50 years, the iconic Snowbirds of the 431 Demonstration Squadron have served as one of the Canadian Armed Forces’ most effective recruitment tools and a powerful showcase of Canadian military excellence,” he said in a news release. Tolmie served as an officer in the RCAF before being elected as an MP.

Canada’s sovereignty is under pressure on all sides. This isn’t the time to cancel one of our bravest symbols.

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Defence Minister David McGuinty waffled over the future of the squad. In fairness, the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney didn’t create this problem. They are just the latest to ignore it. The Snowbirds’ ageing airplanes have long been cause for safety concerns. The Tutors were first built in the 1960s. The oldest plane is 52 years old.

But McGuinty used weasel words to wriggle out of responsibility for cancelling them.

“The Snowbirds will continue air demonstrations with the Tutor fleet for as long as it’s feasible and safe,” he said. It doesn’t take an aircraft mechanic to figure out that planes half a century old are fast approaching the limit of their safe flying days.

This is just the latest in a litany of ways a succession of governments have ignored and short-changed our military. Why was no program put in place 10 years ago to replace them? The answer is simple. Governments, particularly Liberal ones, have diminished the importance of our military. Carney is pledging a massive increase in defence spending. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimates that meeting NATO’s 5% of GDP spending goal by 2035 will add an estimated $159 billion in new core spending. The plans are vague as to where that money will be spent.

Our hope is the government will cut back on consultants and beef up on investments in our front-line forces.

The Snowbirds are a proud symbol of this country’s military skill and expertise. Investing in them is an investment in our national identity.

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