OTTAWA — Call it the case of the missing icebreaker.
The fate of the Canadian Coast Guard’s next heavy icebreaker has been wrapped in mystery since the federal government quietly removed the $1.3-billion project from Vancouver shipyard Seaspan’s order book in May.
But plans to build the icebreaker, which was first promised by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government more than a decade ago, have not been cancelled, says Coast Guard Commissioner Mario Pelletier.
Rather, Pelletier said the icebreaker has been sent back to the drawing board as the Coast Guard looks to update the original design to account for changes in technology and the government’s requirements.
“It’s still in the plan,” Pelletier told The Canadian Press this week. “Actually, we’re updating our design. It was a really good design. … Because it’s been a number of years, we’re just updating the design and we’ll see how that unfolds and we’re going to queue it somewhere.”
Exactly when and where the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, as the icebreaker is to be named, will be built — and how much it will ultimately cost — remains up in the air.
[…]
See Also:
(1) Feds won’t let resistant premiers scuttle municipal handgun bans: PM
(2) Liberals’ sex assault trial reforms run into trouble as more judges find Charter violations
