The federal government is once again planning to procure at least two joint support ships for Canada’s Navy.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced yesterday that the government will spend $2.6 billion for two ships, with an option for a third.
“The joint support ships will increase the navy’s responsiveness to disasters and humanitarian response missions as we saw in Haiti most recently,” MacKay said.
MacKay said the ships would be built in Canadian shipyards, but could not say which ones.
The design and tender process is expected to last about 18 months, but no guess of when the ships would be in the water was hazarded.
Process
Procurement approach improved upon, say feds
• Lessons The federal government previously attempted to acquire the ships two years ago, but MacKay said the procurement process was terminated due to non-compliant bids.
Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said this time it’s different.
“This (procurement) is within a much more streamlined, effective and what we see as a long-term approach,” said Ambrose.
“The procurement process … in the past, ran into delays because of cost overruns. That was one of the lessons learned, frankly, from that procurement.”
