Thank you, Ms. McMillan,
As we look to the future, we have one specific ask of this committee, Parliament, and the Government of Canada. In keeping with the Emerson report tabled in February 2016, the Senate report of May 2017, and the House of Commons report of June 2017, Davie shipyard and Federal Fleet Services are calling for a revision of the national shipbuilding strategy in order to add more Canadian shipbuilding capacity and reduce the federal fleet renewal costs to taxpayers. The policy as it currently stands, which was implemented in 2010 to renew the federal fleet, has been a failure, with not one ship delivered, program delivery dates continually slipping, and budgets escalating to the point of unaffordability. This all spells disaster for middle-class taxpayers, as the program is destined to become a national boondoggle without reform today.
The impact of such a reform will be immediate and will result in the following three points.
One, the fleet would be renewed faster, reducing the cost of inflation and the increasing cost to maintain an aging federal fleet beyond its economic life. For example, the Canadian Coast Guard fleet average age is over 35 years old, and many ships are beyond safe repair.
Two, it would ensure that the regional economic benefit of Canada's shipbuilding programs were shared fairly across Canada. For example, Quebec represents over 23% of the tax base, has over 50% of the shipbuilding capacity in Canada, and yet has received less than 1% of the shipbuilding work.
Three, it would protect middle-class taxpayers by demanding best price for capability. Continuing to pay four times the price is an insult to the middle-class taxpayers, and our delivery of MV Asterix proves that we can significantly reduce the cost of shipbuilding to affordable and world-class levels.
There is plenty of shipbuilding work for all shipyards to prosper in Canada and to become competitive in niche markets. Continuing to build ships under a virtual monopoly will be a detriment to taxpayers and will continue to reward mediocrity. No ships in eight years is not a record to be proud of, and we can do better by involving all capable shipyards in the fleet renewal program and by adding the renewal of our Transport Canada subsidized ferries to the current federal program.
We at Davie and Federal Fleet Services have submitted more than a dozen proposals to the government, which would significantly reduce the burden on middle-class taxpayers while maintaining significant high-skilled jobs across Canada and delivering the needed capabilities to the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Coast Guard, and Transport Canada. These projects include building a second naval support ship over the next 24 months and converting four icebreakers to meet the urgent capability gap faced by the Canadian Coast Guard as it tries to fulfill its mandate of keeping the St. Lawrence Seaway open and Arctic waters safe for navigation.
With these projects and others, Davie shipbuilding and its 996 suppliers in Canada will be in a strong position to maintain more than 1,400 high-skilled jobs, middle-class jobs, in Quebec and Canada for the next 20 years. We request that Canada move forward now to ensure Davie has the opportunity to participate as an equal player in the renewal of our aging federal fleet and provide Canada a way to significantly reduce costs and demands on the middle-class taxpayer.
Thank you. We'd be pleased to take your questions.