COLUMN: Canada Turns Its Back on U.S. F-35s, and Trump Can’t Do Anything About It

When the U.S. President Threatens to Annex Canada

Donald Trump has crossed every red line. His social media posts showing the American flag over Canada. His mockery of the “governor” of his “51st state.” His Treasury Secretary suggesting that Alberta could become a U.S. state. His threats of 100% tariffs if Canada gets too close to China. His promises of 50% tariffs on Canadian aircraft. Every day brings its share of insults, threats, and humiliations. And Canada endures it all. But it doesn’t forget. Nor does it forgive. This decision on the F-35s is Ottawa’s response—silent, calculated, devastating.

In just a few months, Trump has destroyed what generations had built: the Canada-U.S. friendship, that special relationship, that unique partnership. All of it reduced to ashes by a man who understands nothing about diplomacy, nothing about history, nothing about respect. I feel a deep, simmering anger—not against Americans, but against this man who represents them.

Mark Carney Makes His Position Clear to the Whole World

On January 23, 2026, Mark Carney delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that sounds like a declaration of independence. “If the major powers abandon even the pretense of rules and values in order to pursue their power and interests unhindered, the gains of transactionalism will become harder to replicate,” he declares. “Allies will diversify to protect themselves against uncertainty. They will buy insurance, expand their options in order to rebuild their sovereignty.” The message is crystal clear. Canada no longer wants to depend on the United States for its defense. Never again.

That speech gave me chills. Carney said out loud what many were thinking to themselves. Sovereignty. That word resonates differently now. It is no longer an abstract concept, but a vital necessity. When your neighbor threatens you, you don’t entrust your security to them. It’s common sense. Simple common sense.

Why Sweden Offers More Than Just Technology

The Saab JAS-39 Gripen E is not the F-35. No one claims otherwise. It doesn’t have the absolute stealth capabilities of the American fighter jet. But it has other strengths. It costs half as much. It can take off and land on short runways, making it ideal for Canada’s Far North. It’s more flexible and easier to maintain. And above all, Saab offers something Lockheed Martin cannot: strategic autonomy. The Swedish company promises to create thousands of jobs in Quebec, to assemble the aircraft in Canada, and to transfer intellectual property. Bombardier will invest $100 million in a new manufacturing center near Montreal. The package even includes six GlobalEye aerial surveillance aircraft, already produced in partnership with Bombardier.

Strategic autonomy. Those two words change everything. They mean that Canada will be able to maintain its aircraft on its own, repair them on its own, and upgrade them on its own—without asking Washington for permission and without fearing that a capricious president might cut off access to spare parts or software updates. That is true sovereignty.

Pete Hoekstra Loses His Temper

U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra didn’t like that. Not one bit. He threatened that NORAD would have to be restructured if Canada didn’t purchase the 88 F-35s. He said the United States would have to fly more missions in Canadian airspace. He called the Gripen an “inferior aircraft” that isn’t as interoperable with allies. His threats are backfiring. They’re strengthening Ottawa’s resolve. They prove that Canada is right to be wary. An ally who makes threats is no longer an ally. It’s a potential adversary.

Hoekstra is completely wrong. His threats only confirm what many already suspected: the United States is no longer reliable. A true ally does not threaten. It discusses, negotiates, and seeks solutions. But threatening? That’s what enemies do. And Hoekstra has just turned the United States into a potential enemy of Canada.

The Ghost Haunting the F-35s

There’s this persistent rumor: a “kill switch” that would allow the United States to remotely disable F-35s sold to its allies. Lockheed Martin categorically denies this. Rebecca Miller, director of global media relations, states that the company provides “all the system infrastructure and data required for all F-35 customers to maintain the aircraft.” But doubts remain. Even without a kill switch, the F-35 relies on regular software updates. Updates that come from the United States. Updates that could be denied. It is this dependence that worries Ottawa. This vulnerability.

Whether the kill switch exists or not is irrelevant. What matters is the possibility. The mere possibility that the United States could ground Canadian aircraft with a single click. That possibility is intolerable. It turns a military purchase into an act of submission. And Canada refuses to submit.

Twelve thousand six hundred jobs versus peanuts

The numbers speak for themselves. The Swedish package could create 12,600 jobs in Canada—jobs in aerospace, manufacturing, and maintenance. Skilled, well-paying, long-term jobs. What does Lockheed Martin offer in comparison? Subcontracts for a few Canadian companies like Magellan and Pratt & Whitney Canada. That’s it. Between 1997 and 2021, these contracts brought $1.3 billion into the Canadian economy. That’s good. But it’s far, very far from the economic benefits promised by Saab. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly put it clearly: “We certainly can’t control President Trump, but we can control our defense investments—who we award contracts to and how we’re ultimately able to create jobs in Canada.”

Twelve thousand six hundred jobs. That’s no small thing. These are families putting food on the table, mortgages being paid, children going to college. These are communities thriving. And all of this, thanks to a strategic choice—a choice that puts Canadians first, rather than Lockheed Martin’s shareholders.

Military Scenarios to Counter a U.S. Invasion

The news hit like a bombshell. The Canadian Armed Forces have reportedly developed military scenarios to respond to a hypothetical U.S. invasion. Yes, you read that right. A U.S. invasion. A year ago, this idea would have been laughable. Today, it’s simply unthinkable. But it’s no longer impossible. Trump has made the impossible thinkable. His threats of annexation, as grotesque as they may be, have forced the Canadian military to consider the worst-case scenario. And the worst-case scenario is a war with the United States. A war that Canada would lose, of course. But a war for which it must still prepare.

This revelation makes me sick to my stomach. The Canadian military is drawing up plans against the United States. Against the United States. Our allies since time immemorial. Our brothers in arms. Our partners in every war of the last century. And now, we must prepare to fight them. Trump did this. He turned friendship into mistrust, trust into paranoia.

Canada Chooses Independence Over Superior Technology

The F-35 is probably the best fighter jet in the world. It will dominate the skies for the next thirty years. It is technologically superior to the Gripen in almost every respect. Technical evaluations by the Department of Defense confirm this. But what good is having the best aircraft if you can’t use it freely? What good is having the most advanced technology if it comes with invisible chains? Canada is making a difficult choice. A painful choice. It is sacrificing technological superiority to gain strategic autonomy. It is giving up the best to gain control. And in the current context, with Trump in the White House, it’s the only sensible choice.

This choice breaks my heart. Because it shouldn’t even be a choice. Canada and the United States should be steadfast allies. They should trust each other blindly. But Trump has destroyed that trust. He has trampled on it, sullied it, and obliterated it. And now, Canada must protect itself. Protect itself from its best friend. It’s tragic. It’s necessary. It’s the reality of 2026.

Signed, Jacques Provost