Approximately two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Davie shipyard, in the Lévis region, whose representatives told me they would've liked to get the contract to build these boats.
According to them, the problem had something to do with how the request for proposals was done, which made it extremely difficult to be competitive. They mentioned in particular that cost was the sole criterion. Furthermore, they said it happened at the last minute, which gave them insufficient time to adjust their production schedule, among other things. However, they would've had the space to execute the contract and they would've been able to create or increase production capacity and hire people. So it wouldn't have been a problem. However, they feel it's unfortunate the government has no long-term vision. That seems to echo the comments you and Mr. Warren got.
They also told me that China currently holds approximately 65% of the world's shipbuilding capacity, compared to just 5% about 10 years ago. What's your reaction, given that Canada is somewhat of an accomplice to China's cornering almost the entire global shipbuilding market?