Canada is running out of runway for its F

There was an interesting — albeit brief — recent eruption of clarity in the ongoing saga of whether Canada intends to proceed with the full order of American-made F-35 fighters.

It was courtesy of the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, who perhaps spoke the quiet part out loud last week in an interview with Canadian independent podcaster Jasmin Laine.

Hoekstra, a no-nonsense Republican from Michigan, was asked about the Liberal government's review of the $27.7-billion purchase of stealth fighters and the possibility that after delivery of the first tranche of jets, Canada could decide to fill the rest of its order with another type of aircraft.

"You can't afford two fighters, two different fighter jet programs," said Hoekstra. "Canada should just decide what they want. Do the