You're right, my bad.
Air Command still does SAR...
I think comparing the two cancellations is apples and oranges.
Had we kept the Arrow, our aerospace industry would be far different today. Maybe we would still be in the fighter business as RR would like, maybe not. But odds are our industry would not be represented almost solely by Bombardier. The cancellation of the Arrow pretty much killed of our aerospace industry for three decades. Now all we have is an industry that makes passenger planes and water bombers. It's big but could be bigger and probably better.
And the planes (CF 101 Voodoo) purchased to replace the Arrow came nowhere near meeting the requirements the RCAF had put forth when the Arrow was the developed (heck it wasn't until we got the CF-188s that we had a plane close to those specs), while the Cyclone, if it ever gets off the ground, is a relative equal of the EH-101.
Like I said, the error the Libs made was pissing around, taking so long to order something to replace the EH-101. Had they got off their duffs and ordered something within a year or three, we'd already have them in service and much of the ammunition provided to the opposition would have been rendered useless.
Of course, the CF isn't blameless in the whole helicopter fiasco. I'm sure it didn't help that the CF came back a few years after it was cancelled claiming that the EH-101 was the ONLY helo they could use in that role. That coupled with putting Chretien's helmet on backwards made him look bad, which he took personally, and as a result he acted childishly and ordered a whole new competition, which in turn delayed it again. Of course Chretien's actions were typical 'two wrongs don't make a right', but I bet someone (or several someones) in the service regretted pulling that practical joke.
CKA Super Elite 
