Public Accounts Committee on March 6th, 2023

[Arun Thangaraj]

I have nothing further, so we would have to respond to you in writing on that.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Sure. I'll request that you respond in writing to that question regarding Baffinland. Thank you.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

You have 20 seconds left.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Will there be another round?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Yes, there should be time for another round.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Okay. I'll save my last question for the following round.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

Mr. McCauley, you have five minutes.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Thanks, Madam Chair.

Mr. Matthews, could you clear something up for us?

In our first meeting on this issue, I was asking about the costs for fixing the AOPS with their diesel engine issues. PSPC stated that who would cover the costs was being negotiated, but Jessica Lamirande from your office stated that the taxpayers, or DND, is fully responsible for the costs. Which is it?

[Bill Matthews]

It's a bit of both. The warranty—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

It can't be both. Who's paying for it?

[Bill Matthews]

No, I think in this case it is.

The warranty on the AOPS is after one year in service. You have two vessels that have exceeded that one-year point. Reading the warranty purely, that would be on National Defence to pay. For the ship that may have had the same design but is not yet in service, it is on the shipyard to make sure that this is addressed before it changes hands—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

On the costs of the DeWolf, taxpayers are getting that.

[Bill Matthews]

Yes, but.... I'm sorry. I'm reading the warranty purely. It's one year, so that would put it in our hands.

I will say that there is a technical investigation into the cause, which I'm expecting will be “causes”, and obviously we'll take a good read of that and see where it lands. If your question is about what the warranty says, it's one year—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

No, the question wasn't about what the warranty is. It was about who's paying for it. Your department said that it's the taxpayers. PSPC said that it's being negotiated.

[Bill Matthews]

We're beyond the one-year mark, so if you read the warranty to the letter, it's in our hands. However, I want to take a look at the technical report and maybe—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Do you know why PSPC would say that they're investigating it when you've just stated it's in your hands? The question was very clear to them about the cost to fix the DeWolf, which was after warranty.

[Bill Matthews]

I would be speculating because I wasn't here, but I would say that, given that we're awaiting a technical report, I would be open to looking at that and re-engaging with the company based on what it says—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

There was a further statement that it might be linked to the engine cooling. With subsequent AOPS, are there costs that we're looking at that are post-warranty for other ships or added costs to the taxpayers to address this before others are rolled out?

[Bill Matthews]

I get the sense that my co-worker here wants to chime in.

I will say that the ships that are not yet in the water and accepted, whatever the investigation realizes, will be addressed.

Nancy, go ahead.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Please be very quick, Ms. Tremblay. I'm short on time.

[Nancy Tremblay, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Material, Department of National Defence]

Absolutely.

Thank you very much for the question.

When PSPC was here last, the technical investigation on the technical issues had not been completed. It has since then. We are going through the recommendations of that report and determining between PSPC and the builder where the costs will lie.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Switching to the navy, please, do we know how the PRC delivered those spying buoys into our territory? Was that made public?

[RAdm Steven Waddell]

I wouldn't be in a position to comment on that one. I'm sorry.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Do you think that, in light of what their government has been doing with the spy balloons and these buoys, we perhaps should be looking to have them removed as an observer status from the Arctic Council?

[RAdm Steven Waddell]

I think a response to that question is a little out of my jurisdiction.