That’s really is part of it. Going top of the line fighter jets, that need major support teams and years of skills building to use in Arctic conditions, may leave less for things like building Navy capacity. The SAABs have lower cost while being very versatile, able to land in widely distributed very small “rugged” bases and can stay up patrolling the large regions of potential Arctic conflict for long periods. Reality is that if it comes to needing F-35s to go head to head in direct conflict with Russia then the US is involved too. From Canada’s POV let them provide the outrageously expensive tech.
Again very interested in the thoughts of our resident aviation wonks.