Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the tremendous economic benefits the people of British Columbia and, indeed, all Canadians will receive as a result of our government's national shipbuilding procurement strategy.
In North Vancouver, Seaspan Shipyards won the national competition for an $8 billion contract to build non-combat vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. These include offshore science vessels, a polar icebreaker and joint support ships.
The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries has estimated that government ship projects would directly and indirectly contribute over $2 billion in annual economic benefit and 15,000 jobs across Canada for the next 30 years. Major federal investments such as this will also help Vancouver shipyards become a world-class centre of excellence.
On October 19, 2012, the groundbreaking ceremony at Seaspan kicked off the start of construction. I look forward to seeing the benefits of our national shipbuilding strategy come to fruition.