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HALIFAX — Defence Minister Peter MacKay says Ottawa wants to get ship building under way “very quickly” to replace two aging navy supply ships.
Mr. MacKay says the federal government wants to pursue a Canadian-made solution to replace the vessels after he attended a sports funding announcement in the Halifax-area today.
Late last week, the Conservative government sunk a $2.9 billion replacement program for HMCS Preserver and HMCS Protecteur.
They also scrapped a $340-million companion proposal to buy 12 patrol boats for the Coast Guard.
Mr. MacKay says no bids from Canadian companies were within budget, so Ottawa plans to restart the process.
He says the federal government will sit down with the industry to come up with a plan on how to build the vessels.
