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OTTAWA — The Harper government's plans to overhaul Canada's maritime defences are in disarray after Ottawa on Friday cancelled billions of dollars in plans to buy new supply ships for the navy and patrol vessels for the Coast Guard.
Critics say the scuttled procurements are evidence the Tories have failed to deliver on their pledge to reform a dysfunctional defence procurement system that the Conservatives once criticized as “a sad story of delays, starts, stops, restarts or abandonment.”
The Harper government took no responsibility for the state of affairs in a terse statement released quietly Friday, instead blaming defence contractors.
It said it was rejecting bids to build both sets of vessels because the companies competing for the jobs could not deliver a proposal that met the budget Ottawa had set for the projects.
“Both bids were significantly over the established budget provisions,” federal Public Works Minister Christian Paradis said in the statement.
“The Department of National Defence and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are currently considering the next steps.”
The naval community has long said that Ottawa hadn't allocated enough cash for the job of building new supply ships, which are vital to keeping Canadian Navy vessels operating.
NDP defence critic Dawn Black said the Tories have to shoulder blame for these cancellations, which will set back years of work to procure new ships.
“The Conservatives claim that they've fixed the chaotic procurement system. This is evidence that they have not. It's simply irresponsible to tender an important contract like this, knowing that no bidder can possibly meet the terms of the contract,” the Vancouver-area MP said.
Ms. Black said she's angered by the fact the Tories are further delaying plans to buy new patrol vessels for Canadian waters. “Harper and the Conservatives have money for the war in Afghanistan, but when it comes to life-saving coastguard vessels, the Conservatives just don't share the priorities of Canadians and their families.”
The affected projects include the $2.9-billion project to build three support ships for the Canadian Navy, known as the Joint Support Ship program, as well as a process to buy 12 mid-shore patrol vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard
