They had their photo-op then sat back and waited for the next photo-op now they'll apply a bandaid and have another photo-op afterall they are the image party not the action party

Michael Den Tandt: Conservatives’ in dilemma over shipbuilding program as election approaches

Five months before election time, the federal government’s carefully constructed National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) is threatening to come apart at the seams — although senior members of cabinet are aware of a potential solution and of a mind to push it forward, over the objections of bureaucrats at the Department of National Defence who are, as is their custom, ragging the puck.

The biggest portion of the $30 billion-plus naval build, on the east coast, is moving ahead, albeit slowly. In January, Irving was awarded the task of building six DeWolf-class Arctic offshore patrol ships, and named prime contractor on the Canadian Surface Combatants, the fleet of 15 vessels to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates and Iroquois-class destroyers.

The Western tranche, the $8 billion in work allotted to Vancouver-based Seaspan to build non-combat vessels — including four smaller coast guard boats, one large polar icebreaker and two very large support ships  —  is where problems have emerged.

Seaspan’s yard in North Vancouver has in the past produced mainly barges and ferries. As a result, it required a big upgrade, which the company has done, at a cost it says of $170 million. That work was completed in November. Yet no contract with the federal government has been finalized, nor has construction of the coast guard vessels begun.

Under the terms of its non-binding “umbrella agreement” with Ottawa, signed in February 2012, Seaspan was required to reach a “target state” – readiness to begin work – by mid-January this year. That deadline passed with no target state achieved. According to industry sources, the company has been granted an extension until June. Among its challenges are a lack of available hands willing to sustain high Vancouver living and housing costs on an industrial worker’s wage.

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