Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We'll do the presentation together, and it will be bilingual. We can answer any questions afterwards in both languages.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Sarah McMillan. I am the executive vice-president of Federal Fleet Services Inc. I am accompanied by my colleague John Schmidt, who is its vice-president, commercial.
Federal Fleet Services Inc. is the government contracting arm of Chantier Davie Canada Inc., which is the biggest and most specialized ship builder in Canada with the greatest production capacity.
I am the mother of three daughters, respectively 15, 12 and 6 years of age. I retired from the Royal Canadian Navy after 25 years of service. It began in the College Collège militaire Royal de Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. I have had a number of exciting adventures, including a mission to Afghanistan in 2013, when my youngest daughter was only two.
Mr. Schmidt has worked in the field of Canadian shipbuilding for 42 years, including 25 years in procurement at Public Services and Procurement Canada, or PSPC. He was one of the initiators of Davie’s military support ship program and is considered an expert in marine procurement.
I will begin by giving you an overview of Davie Shipbuilding, located in Lévis, Quebec.
In 2012, the government approved a change in ownership of the largest and oldest naval shipyard in Canada. Over the last five years, Davie’s contribution to the Canadian economy has been in the order of $2.74 billion. It provides 3,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada, with an average salary in 2016 of $69,000. Of Davie’s employees, 96.4% are the main source of income for their families. I am proud to state that Davie employs 114 apprentices.
Our employees are part of the middle class that the Prime Minister considers so important. Under its new owners, Davie has completed many commercial projects, including ship repair. We delivered Hull 717, our 717th vessel, the Cecon Pride, which was not only Canada’s largest export product of 2014, but also the most complex commercial vessel delivered in North America in that year. In 2016, we delivered Hull 718, the Cecon Excellence, the Cecon Pride’s sister ship.
Davie has also conducted five vessel life extension projects for the Canadian Coast Guard, on time and on budget. Soon, we will also be delivering the MS ASTERIX on time and on budget. This is the first military supply ship built for the Canadian navy in 50 years.
This vessel will be built at 25% of the budget allocated for joint support ships. In other words, we are saving middle-class Canadians 75% of the per-vessel cost. It will be built according to the existing naval construction strategy, representing an immediate saving for taxpayers of $1.5 billion.
If that is applied to the entire federal fleet renewal program, the potential savings for taxpayers will be in excess of $10 billion, considerably reducing the financial requirements in Canada’s future budgets.
I will now pass the floor to my colleague.