MarkD -
'Course, it was Mulroney's Conservative government that left the CAF with no heavylift helo assets by selling off the remaining CH-147s to the Dutch. As in the UK, it doesn't really seem to matter who's in power, short-term decisions are always being made to the detriment of the military.
The real Canadian screw-up in this instance seems to be that this procurement was left so late, despite the long-running plans for the Afghan deployment.
I/C