December 1, 2017 | Local, Naval
By Kevin Dougherty. Published on Dec 1, 2017 10:46am
QUEBEC – Chantier Davie in Lévis, across the St. Lawrence from Quebec City, will be forced to lay off 800 shipyard workers before Christmas without a new contract to build a second supply vessel for the Canadian navy.
“We're not taking no for an answer on that,” Davie CEO Alex Vicefield said in a telephone interview on Thursday, after Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan told Le Journal de Québec last week through his press attaché that the government does not plan to buy a second supply ship.
In an email response Thursday, Sajjan's press attaché Bryne Furlong reiterated that, “Navy and Coast Guard supply requirements have been extensively studied and are subject to long-term planning, which does not include a second supply vessel.”
The layoffs have begun, now that the Davie workforce has completed — on time and on budget — conversion of the German-built container ship Asterix into a supply ship to deliver fuel, water, food and supplies to the ships of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Davie's plan now is the $600 million conversion of the Obelix, a sister ship to the Asterix, into the navy's second supply ship. Vicefield said Ottawa's plan calls for paying $2 billion each for two new supply vessels, the first of which will only be available 10 years from now.
“Why do we need to build these ships for $2 billion each?” Vicefield asked, noting the Asterix and Obelix cost $600 million each and are superior vessels.
“I'm not a political activist but we believe in the project and we delivered,” Vicefield said.
In 2011, the Harper government unveiled its National Shipbuilding Procurement Program, awarding $38-billion in contracts to build ships for the Navy and Coast Guard to Irving Shipbuilding Inc. of Halifax and Seaspan Shipbuilding of Vancouver.
Davie, emerging from bankruptcy at the time, is Canada's largest shipyard and was excluded.
Cost estimates have risen since then, Vicefield noted, with the cost ballooning to over $100 billion. And in the six years since the plan was announced, the two winning shipyards have delivered no ships.
Officially, Seaspan is to launch its first replacement supply ship in 2021.
But Vicefield noted that Andy Smith, the official responsible for shipbuilding in the federal department of fisheries and oceans, told a Commons committee Nov. 7 that Seaspan has a backlog of three ships to build before work on the first supply ship can begin in 2023, for delivery in 2027.
Vicefield said that in spite of granting the lion's share of shipbuilding contracts to Halifax, the Conservatives where shut out in Atlantic Canada in the 2015 election, and Steven Blaney, the Conservative MP representing Lévis, was re-elected even though Davie was excluded from the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.
“The key point here is that shipbuilding contracts do not win votes,” Vicefield said. “But major procurement scandals bring down governments.
“If I was in government, I would be worried about a major procurement scandal, where you are spending five, six times the cost to buy a ship than any other country in the world pays and nothing is being delivered.”
The Asterix is also a hospital ship and can deliver humanitarian aid in the event of major natural disasters, such as a tsunami or a devastating hurricane.
Davie stepped into the breach in 2014, when the navy's two existing supply ships were scrapped and plans by Seaspan to build two replacement supply ships were a distant prospect.
The Harper government granted Davie a contract to convert the Asterix into a supply ship for about $600 million as a private-public partnership, with Davie managing the project from stem to stern, its financing, as well as providing its civilian crew and leasing the ship to the federal government for five years.
When Justin Trudeau led his Liberals to power in 2015, Irving Shipbuilding leaned on Liberal ministers from the Maritimes to have the contract cancelled.
But the work was underway and Ottawa did not block the Asterix project.
The Halifax-based and crewed Asterix will supply Canadian navy ships off the east coast, while off the west coast Canadian naval vessels will be supplied by Chilean and Spanish navy supply ships.
“Why would you do that when you can put the money back into Canada and ensure the jobs of 800 people here for another two years?” Vicefield said. “It makes no sense.”
Vicefield regards the Harper government's plans, renamed by the Liberal government as the National Shipbuilding Strategy, as “mind-boggling” and “a bit of a joke.”
And he believes Canada can have three shipyards, including Davie, to build and maintain naval and Coast Guard vessels.
“There are about 50 large ships that need replacing,” he said, noting the average age of the Coast Guard fleet is 40 years. “So there is enough work for sure for three shipyards for the next 30 years.”
“We haven't been pushing against the National Shipbuilding Strategy,” Vicefield said. “I think it is going to fall on its own.”
Irving, which is now building ships in Romania, and Seaspan, which has ordered two ferries to be built in Turkey, are defending the plan, and so far have political support.
“They see the writing on the wall,” Vicefield said. “They want to destroy the competition. They see that now they have the upper hand.
“But we're not going to let that happen,” he insists.
“We're convinced the new government, the Liberals, will actually see sense.
“But it is taking time for them to get their feet under the desk.”
https://ipolitics.ca/article/chantier-davie-wont-take-no-answer/
July 19, 2023 | Local, Aerospace
Écoutez le président de l'entreprise discuter avec l animateur Louis Lacroix des appareils de surveillance dont a besoin le gouvernement canadien.
December 7, 2017 | Local, Land, Security
December 6, 2017 – 8 WING TRENTON, Ont – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Canada's new defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, reaffirms the government's commitment to providing the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the support and equipment they need to do their jobs. Today, in support of this commitment, Member of Parliament Neil Ellis announced on behalf of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan that 8 Wing Trenton is the first location to take possession of the new fire trucks. Known as the Aerial Fire Fighting Vehicle (AFFV) these modern trucks provide fire fighting capabilities, rescue and casualty evacuation to a height of 35 meters. They feature a casualty recovery platform that previous vehicles didn't have. The vehicles were procured to fight fires on modern infrastructure found on Bases and Wings including fires in ammunition and fuel containment areas. The new fire trucks will replace some of the current vehicles that have been in use since the mid-90s and that have exceeded their life expectancy. They will add to those firefighting fleets that do not have the capabilities the AFFV will bring. In June 2016, a contract was awarded to Aréo-Feu based in Longueuil, Québec to supply the vehicles. A total of nine new vehicles will be delivered to Bases and Wings across Canada. The last vehicle is expected to be delivered in April 2018, with an option to purchase three more vehicles. Quotes “Modernizing the equipment the Canadian Armed Forces rely on to do their jobs is a key priority for the Government of Canada. I am pleased to see that the new Aerial Fire Fighting Vehicle is being delivered to Bases and Wings across the country.” – Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan “It is great news that the first delivery of the new Aerial Fire Fighting Vehicle occurred here at 8 Wing Trenton. More importantly, this is good news for the firefighters and emergency services workers who will use this modern vehicle in service to the 8 Wing Trenton community.” – Neil Ellis, Member of Parliament for Bay of Quinte Quick Facts The $18.7 million contract for these vehicles was awarded to Aréo-Feu based in Longueuil, Québec, after a fair, open and transparent competition. A total of nine new vehicles will be delivered to Bases and Wings across Canada with an option for three more. First delivery began in November 2017 with final delivery expected for April 2018. The following Bases and Wings will each receive one new Aerial Fire Fighting Vehicles: 4 Wing Cold Lake, 3 Wing Bagotville, 8 Wing Trenton, 19 Wing Comox, 14 Wing Greenwood, CFB Suffield, CFB Shilo, CFB Gagetown and CFB Esquimalt. Contacts Byrne Furlong Press Secretary Office of the Minister of National Defence 613-996-3100 Media Relations Department of National Defence Phone: 613-996-2353 Toll-Free: 1-866-377-0811 https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2017/12/new_fire_trucks_forthecanadianarmedforces.html
August 10, 2020 | Local, Aerospace
Posted on August 10, 2020; CAE Press Release CAE recently announced the appointment of Daniel Gelston as group president, Defence and Security, effective Aug. 24, 2020. He will be based in Washington, D.C. and will be succeeding Heidi Wood, CAE's executive vice-president, Business Development and Growth Initiatives, who was also acting as interim group president. “I am very pleased to welcome Dan Gelston to CAE's executive management team, as our new group president, Defence and Security. He is a proven leader with more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. military, intelligence community and the global defence industry,” said Marc Parent, CAE's president and chief executive officer. “Dan's energy and his solid track record as a growth-focused leader will be invaluable in driving the growth of our defence business in our core operations and expanding further into an array of related adjacencies that align well to our business strengths. I have no doubt that his industry experience and exceptional leadership will propel our defence business to reach its full potential.” Before joining CAE, Gelston served as president of L3Harris Technologies' Broadband Communications Systems sector and president of Communication Systems-West division. In this role, Gelston led his team to multiple record-breaking years of fiscal performance and significantly improved the business's overall competitive win-rate and pipeline expansion. Prior to his leadership role at L3Harris Technologies, Gelston was president of the Special Security Agreement (SSA) businesses Smiths Detection Inc. and Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance. In 2017, he led the SSA-controlled portion of Smith's $710 million Morpho Detection acquisition and the divestment of Smith's Brazil business. In 2015, Gelston led the sale of Cobham's Surveillance Business and served as CEO during its transition to a standalone company. Gelston holds a master of science degree in strategic intelligence from the National Intelligence University and a double-major bachelor's degree in economics and international strategic policy from Bucknell University. Gelston's military experience includes active and reserve duty from 1998 to 2007 as an armor and military intelligence officer. He is a U.S. Army Armor School Draper Awardee and Intelligence Officer School Distinguished Honor Graduate. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/cae-appoints-daniel-gelston-as-group-president-of-defence-and-security