My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. We know that the federal government gave the Irving shipyard a contract to build a sixth arctic and offshore patrol ship.

Construction of these six ships was supposed to be completed between 2019 and 2023, but there have already been significant delays. There are also concerns about the ships themselves. The Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence shared its concerns in its May 2017 report, entitled Reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces: A Plan for the Future.

The report indicates that the committee has doubts about the ships’ capabilities. These ships cannot even break ice that is more than a metre thick. They are slower than the B.C. ferries. They will only be able to operate in the Arctic between June and October and will require a Coast Guard icebreaker as an escort in northern waters. An independent review will therefore be conducted of the ships’ capabilities in order to determine whether they are actually able to defend Canada’s sovereignty.

Senator Harder, could you clarify the reasons why the government continues to add ships to the Irving shipyard contract when they do not meet the Coast Guard’s needs in the Arctic?

Can you also confirm whether the government plans to award contracts to the Davie shipyard in Quebec City? It produced its last deliverable on time and on budget and wants to rehire the 1,300 workers who were temporarily laid off while awaiting new contracts.