OTTAWA,
ON, June 28, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, the Office of
the Parliamentary Budget Officer published its report,
titled The Polar Icebreaker Project: 2024 Update, on
the procurement of two Polar Icebreakers for the Canadian Coast
Guard. We welcome this report because it provides us with valuable
data that will support our goal of investing every taxpayer dollar
in the best way.
We are now carefully reviewing the findings of the report, and
would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work gathering
and preparing this data.
With their enhanced capabilities, these larger, more powerful
Polar Icebreakers will enable the Canadian Coast Guard to conduct
year-round operations in Canada's
Arctic. Their greater endurance will ensure they can operate
further North, for longer periods. Ultimately, they will allow the
fleet to better support Indigenous peoples and Northerners,
strengthen Arctic sovereignty, advance high Arctic science, in
addition to better respond to maritime emergencies.
It is important to note that the initial costs were calculated
based on the Polar Icebreaker design from 2014. In 2022, the ship's
design was improved to reflect the latest standards and
technological innovations. This necessary update has inevitably led
to cost increases. That said, it will be better able to respond to
the many missions of the Canadian Coast Guard, and for a longer
period of time.
More than a decade since the launch of Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy, three
Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels later, and more vessels under
construction, we remain more confident than ever that the National
Shipbuilding Strategy will deliver the fleet of the future that the
Canadian Coast Guard needs to deliver its critical services to
Canadians.
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SOURCE Canadian Coast Guard