©De Havilland Canada

In Europe, Canada’s symbol-of-the-moment is the Canadair water bomber: Les Canadairs in France; i Canadair in Italy. On training runs outside Rome, the roaring red-and-orange planes can be seen descending sharply over the hill ridges, and skimming the waves as they fill their bellies with more than 6,000 litres of water. Italy has the biggest European fleet of Canadairs and they have been working flat-out this summer as the drought and savage heat trigger wildfires in Sicily and Calabria and elsewhere. … Spain, Greece and France have also pushed their aging Canadair fleets to breaking point. …The federal and Ontario governments have thrown billions of dollars in subsidies at battery plants for electric vehicles. A few bucks for De Havilland to help it preserve its control of one of the few global markets where Canada dominates – water bombers – might be a good idea as Mr. Trump attacks the Canadian economy. [The Globe and Mail requires a subscription for full access]