OTTAWA – Canada was actively pursuing — at the political level — the possible acquisition of the controversial French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers, several defence, diplomatic and military industry sources have told The Canadian Press.
The effort has ground to halt, however, largely because of the federal election campaign — and it may slip away entirely because the French are now in a position to entertain bids from other countries for the 22,000-tonne ships, originally built for Russia.
The original deal was cancelled because of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its ongoing support of anti-government forces in eastern Ukraine, but it was only …read more
Source: Macleans
