Canada to upgrade Coast Guard fleet

The Canadian federal government has announced it will spend $284.5 million to purchase six new vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard.

The vessels, which will be phased into the existing coast guard fleet between 2009 and 2014, will include four mid-shore patrol vessels, one offshore science vessel and one hovercraft. Three of the vessels are bound for British Columbia, two are destined for Nova Scotia and one will go to Quebec.

All six will be built in Canada, which should boost the country’s shipbuilding industry, said Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn. “The new multi-tasking fleet will boost security, safety and fisheries science for our country,” Hearn told reporters at the coast guard base in St. John’s. “The fleet’s state-of-the-art design will mean stronger, more flexible, more efficient and cost-effective delivery of coast guard services.”

In addition to the six new vessels, Hearn said the coast guard will spend $15 million to buy a high-speed air cushion vehicle that will be used in search and rescue services in Quebec. The government will also redeploy two of its icebreakers from the Maritimes to Newfoundland and Labrador over the next two years.

Including this latest $284.5 million announcement, the federal government has now spent $649 million on the coast guard since February 2006, purchasing a total of 16 new vessels. Eleven are being bought to replace aging vessels, while five are entirely new. This announcement comes two weeks after the Senate’s security and defence committee issued a report that concluded Canada’s coastlines are undermanned and vulnerable.

NDP fisheries critic Peter Stoffer said Thursday that the deal will do little to help the under-funded coast guard. “They need double that, not just for operations, but also for equipment, retrofit and brand new vessels as well,” he said.