The Defence Department's procurement chief is hoping to have a better sense by the end of the year as to how much Canada will have to pay to build a new fleet of warships for the Royal Canadian Navy.
While the federal government is pressing ahead with plans to buy billions of dollars worth of much-needed equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence's top procurement official says COVID-19 is further slowing down some already delayed purchases.
Canada's cutthroat shipbuilding industry saw a surprise alliance on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, as two competing yards announced plans to team up to win a multibillion-dollar contract to build a new polar icebreaker for the Canadian Coast Guard.
An Ontario shipyard is accusing the federal government of trying to unfairly award Quebec's Chantier Davie shipyard potentially billions of dollars in work without a competition.
The Canadian Coast Guard's recent struggles resupplying northern communities and rescuing ice-jammed ferries appear set to continue despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to spend $15.7 billion on "a complete fleet renewal."
Canada's federal procurement minister says she wishes the Irving company and its lawyers hadn't threatened to sue reporters asking questions about the company's federal shipbuilding contracts.
The federal Liberals have ripped open Canada's multibillion-dollar plan to build new ships for the navy and coast guard, prompting cheers and frustration from shipyards in different parts of the country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, that the federal government is buying two more Arctic patrol ships on the top of the six it has already ordered from Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding.