The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that last week, the federal government signed a preliminary agreement to purchase six of Saab's GlobalEye planes, using Canadian-supplied Bombardier jets as the base. Guest columnist Peter Jones writes that Sweden's GlobalEye was one of three contenders for the multibillion-dollar contract. The other two were American. Stories are now surfacing that the government did not wait for the military to issue its technical requirements, as would ordinarily be the process. Reportedly, Prime Minister Mark Carney simply went ahead and announced that Saab was the winner. The Carney government is sending a message to the Canadian military: Industrial and political criteria are just as important as military ones. In this case, the desire to build in Canada wherever possible appears to have won the day: Saab has announced that much of the work to convert the Bombardier jet on which the GlobalEye is based will be done in Canada, creating up to 3,600 jobs, as part of a much larger job-creation package of up to 12,000 if Canada also chooses to buy the Gripen fighter jet. Expect more surprise announcements -- and more grumbling -- as Canada's generals and admirals face the new reality.