Depends on the question. We've already paid for 16 of the F-35s, and we'd just be throwing money away if we totally scrapped the program. Plus F-35 is the most advanced of what's available.
I think we need to de-risk our armed forces, but trying to to keep relying on CF-18s that we know are unreliable vs. F-35 that might be unreliable is pretty clearcut. What I am less unsure of is how many F-35 we should continue with. 16 seems obvious. How many more? What would we get as a substitute? Should we look at GCAP or FCAS instead of or in addition to any of the above questions? Typhoon? Gripen?
So if the question was should we buy any F-35, I would be a yes. Should we buy 88 F-35, I'm a no.
Probably a difference in risk assessment. I'd say I'm 99% certain the US won't invade Canada in the next 4 years. Granted I was 99.99% certain, so that's a hundred fold increase in risk.
Also consider the risk of F-35 being sabotaged. It's not 100%. Lockheed-Martin did not build in a kill switch. The risk is realistically more one of maintenance which does include software. More likely F-35 would be degraded rather than dead on the tarmac. I also discount this risk because in an actual US invasion scenario I don't think we can buy enough F-35 or Gripen fast enough to make much of a difference and what little defence production we have is close to the border. A US invasion scenario would mostly be an insurgency.
Still F-35 is what everyone is buying for a reason. It's also what everyone is concerned about for a reason. Like I said, 16 or 22 F-35 should be a no-brainer. They're already paid for. They are the most capable fighter currently, and they are good for everything we are likely to need them for.
How much more than that makes sense is where I get very uncertain. Arguably the best way to spend more on defence and get nothing in return is analysis paralysis. The other is gold-plating your procurement, and F-35 is already kind of the gold-plated option but it's also got the best economies of scale so that's probably not really here nor there.
I think Canada needs to build our armed forces, and we need to be quick and efficient about it. We are already on the waitlist for F-35, and they will support objectives such as supporting allies and arctic patrol. The only thing they aren't good at is defending against US invasion, but that is mostly because they are maintenance intensive (there is a reason I keep coming back to Gripen).
I also really like the GCAP program. I think it's a great way to reinvigorate our domestic aerospace industry. Gripen and Typhoon would also help reinvigorate domestic aerospace.
Finally, more money to defence industries in the US just helps the US. Walking away from fighters we've already paid for just let's them keep our money and sell those jets elsewhere. Halving (or one-quartering) our order gets us something that is still very useful, gets us that something about as fast as practical, and also messes with their economies of scale.
Put that all together I'm in the 22-44 F-35 camp, money saved into Gripen, join GCAP. Dual sourced fighters should show dual delivery. Saab is already working on a different Gripen revision replacing the US sourced engine.
You may disagree with my reasoning or conclusions, plus I'm 90% certain I put more thought into the question than 90% of the respondents to the survey. Assuming it was some basic "Should Canada cancel the F-35 contract?" question, how would you answer for me?