MOOSE JAW, Sask.—The roar of jet engines fills the skies every summer as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds dazzle crowds with precision loops, rolls, and white smoke trailing behind their red-and-white aircraft.
Now, as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron prepares for its final season flying the iconic CT-114 Tutor jet, a plan to pause flights has sparked debate over whether one of Canada’s best-known military institutions should disappear from the skies for several years.
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds air demonstration team performs at the municipal airport near Moose Jaw, Sask. on July 11, 2026. That date was also when the squadron first took flight 55 years ago. (Jason G. Antonio for The Epoch Times)
Ottawa announced in May that it plans to replace the nine aging Tutors with CT-157 Siskin II turboprop aircraft, but the new fleet won’t be ready until the early 2030s, leaving the team grounded until then….