Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to Mr. Penney and Mr. Giroux for joining us today. I'm quite fascinated by this file. I'm a British Columbian from the coastal city of Richmond. I was working as a communications officer for the provincial government when I first learned of this announcement around Seaspan and the shipbuilding coming. It was many years ago, so I'm extremely interested in how this moves forward.
Mr. Giroux, my question is geared toward the Canadian Coast Guard. In May 2021 they explained that, according to early estimates, the construction of these ships would generate approximately 300 jobs per vessel at the shipyards and 2,500 jobs across the marine supply chain. Seaspan and the Vancouver shipyard indicated that the new ship construction program would sustain approximately 1,400 jobs at Seaspan on the Vancouver shipyard and 1,400 additional jobs across the country.
What are your views on the Canadian Coast Guard's estimates, Mr. Giroux?