Icebreaker budget nearly doubles

Cost of new coast guard ship rises to $1.3 billion

The Canadian Coast Guard’s new heavy icebreaker will cost nearly twice as much to build as originally estimated, officials said Wednesday.

Yet one defence analyst says that’s not necessarily a bad thing given concerns that have been percolating around whether enough money has been set aside for the federal government’s national shipbuilding plan.

The budget for the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker has stood at $720 million since Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the government’s plans to build the icebreaker during a trip to the Arctic in 2008.

But coast guard spokeswoman Melanie Carkner says that figure was based on old estimates and the budget has been revised up to $1.3 billion to ensure the Diefenbaker is able to perform the tasks that will be required of it when it comes online.

It’s the second significant change to the icebreaker project in as many months.

Vancouver Shipyard was scheduled to begin construction on the Diefenbaker in 2015 so it could be in the water in time to replace the aging CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in 2017.

But a scheduling conflict at the shipyard with the navy’s new resupply ships means work on the Diefenbaker won’t start until at least 2018, and the icebreaker won’t be ready until 2022.

Government officials have said it will cost taxpayers an extra $55 million to keep the Louis S. St-Laurent operational until that time.

Defence analyst David Perry of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute questioned whether the $600-million cost increase for the icebreaker is also related to the decision to delay construction of the Diefenbaker by three years.

Experts have long warned about the impact of delays when it comes to the Conservative government’s $38-billion national shipbuilding strategy as well as other military procurement projects because of high inflation rates in the defence sector.

Yet the fact the budget for the Diefenbaker has been increased will also be seen as good news in some corners.

Budgets set for the Diefenbaker as well as the navy’s new frigates, destroyers and resupply ships were done some years ago, when those projects were in the very early stages and before many of the projects were delayed.

As a result, there have been fears both inside and outside government that the money set aside for the shipbuilding plan isn’t enough to get the coast guard and navy what they actually need.

Yet the Conservative government has shown no indications it is willing to bend on the numbers — until now.

“If this introduces some budget flexibility into the naval program as well, that would be a good thing,” Perry said.