With regard to the tendering process used for deciding the in-service support contract for the Victoria-class submarines: (a) what policy on industrial and regional benefits was used as a methodology by the government in the evaluation of bids in the procurement process for the in-service support contract to maintain the Victoria-class submarines; (b) when did the government decide not to award the contract for the in-service support contract of the Victoria-class submarines as a major Crown project and did any department formally object to this decision; (c) has the government calculated the loss of employment and other economic opportunities to Atlantic Canada as a result of the decision to award the in-service support contract to another region; (d) with regard to (c), what is the estimated loss, in dollars, to Atlantic Canadian companies as a result of the awarding of the in-service support contract; and (e) what is the cost to the taxpayer, for the transit of a Halifax-based Victoria–class submarine to the West Coast of Canada for extended docking work?
In the House of Commons on March 12th, 2008. See this statement in context.