No timeline for delivery of new navy supply ships
Government says schedule can’t be shared
The Canadian government can’t provide Parliament with a schedule for the delivery of the navy’s new supply ships or the coast guard’s Polar-class icebreaker because it deems such information secret.
But the refusal to provide such basic details to MPs on shipbuilding programs costing billions could be a sign construction of the vessels has fallen behind schedule, industry representatives privately warn.
Construction of the supply vessels, called the Joint Support Ships, has been delayed over the years.
But the Royal Canadian Navy had a target for the first vessel to be delivered in 2021 and a second in 2022.
Construction, however, has yet to begin.
Conservative MP Todd Doherty asked the federal government to supply information about the JSS as well as a planned Polar-class icebreaker as a followup to an appearance at a Commons committee in early November by Kevin Stringer, associate deputy minister at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Doherty asked for the integrated program schedule in which Seaspan, with input from the government, outlined when it was going to deliver the Polar-class icebreaker and the JSS.
The federal government, however, filed its response to Doherty’s question, noting the schedule “is subject to commercial confidence restrictions and cannot be shared.”
The government did not explain why the delivery plan for ships being entirely paid for by taxpayers was secret.
The government in its response also noted “planned delivery dates are not available” since no construction contracts have been signed for the JSS or the icebreaker.
Earlier this month, Seaspan officials acknowledged they could be facing some issues with the construction of federal vessels at its Vancouver yard.
Seaspan is working on building three fisheries vessels for the government as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. But there will be a gap between the end of construction of those and the start of a fourth fisheries vessel, prompting the union representing employees at the Seaspan yard to sound the alarm about possible layoffs.
Tim Page, vice-president of government relations at Seaspan, said earlier that the company was trying to drum up new work from the federal government and other commercial sources to deal with the potential gap.
“We do anticipate a production gap and while clearly not welcome, swings in a shipyard’s workforce is not unusual around the world,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to mitigate that gap through work that we’re competitively and aggressively competing for in both the commercial and the government environments.”
Seaspan didn’t comment on the federal government’s latest response on building schedules. Public Services
(SCHEDULE) IS SUBJECT TO COMMERCIAL CONFIDENCE RESTRICTIONS AND CANNOT BE SHARED.
and Procurement Canada could not provide a response.
The building of the first Joint Support Ship won’t come until after the four Coast Guard/fisheries vessels are completed. Construction of the first JSS is supposed to begin in 2018 but that is looking less likely, industry officials say.
The Joint Support Ships are critical for the navy as they provide fuel and supplies for warships at sea.
Because those are not expected until 2021 or later, the federal government entered into agreement with Davie Shipyards in Quebec to lease a commercial vessel that had been converted into a refuelling and supply ship.
That ship is undergoing its final tests and is expected to be available for the navy early next year.
Davie has pitched the federal government on acquiring a second such ship. But the Liberals have declined that offer.
But sources close to Davie say the Quebec government and shipyard unions are trying to mobilize Quebec Liberal MPs to change that. If a second ship isn’t built, as many as 800 workers at the Davie yard could soon be on the unemployment line, they warn.