Mr. Speaker, the Hibernia consortium recently awarded an untendered contract to Saint John's Shipbuilding in New Brunswick. This $35-million contract represents several hundred jobs. This decision is outrageous since the MIL Davie shipyard in Quebec had already bid
on this contract, unlike Saint John's Shipbuilding which never did.
My question is for the minister responsible for regional development in Quebec. How can the minister explain that he did not step in to keep the Hibernia board of directors from awarding without tender a $35-million contract to Saint John's Shipbuilding, without a bid from this company, when MIL Davie had already submitted a bid?