There are arguably few things more quintessentially Canadian than military procurement projects that fall way behind schedule and go way over budget.
But the delays that have long plagued Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy are now endangering our navy and coast guard’s operational capacity.
Those setbacks were further exacerbated in 2020 by pandemic-related restrictions on shipyard workforces.
Meanwhile, fresh reports of new projected cost overruns to build needed warships and other vessels come as Canadians are bracing themselves for the impact of massive pandemic-related government deficits.
It’s long past time for Ottawa to get a grip on its chronic inability to properly oversee military procurement projects.
Last week, federal Auditor General Karen Hogan warned that government mismanagement of the national shipbuilding initiative threatens to leave the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard without the vessels required to do its jobs.
Both have already refurbished existing ships to extend their lifespans while waiting for promised replacements. But, as Hogan rightly noted, that only buys so much time.
The navy has had to lease a converted commercial vessel to serve as a supply ship. Replacements for its two supply ships decommissioned in 2014 were originally supposed to have been delivered in 2012, but now the earliest the first is supposed to arrive is 2023.
The coast guard has already had to do without some vessels, as some of its aged fleet remains docked and undergoing repairs.
There was also troubling news last week on the federal program to replace the Canadian navy’s aging Halifax-class frigates.
Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux said he estimated building up to 15 new Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships could now cost $77 billion. If delayed by another two years, it could exceed $82 billion.
The project had been originally estimated in 2008 to cost $26 billion. That estimate was revised a number of times since, most recently in 2019 by the PBO to about $70 billion.
That contract, yet to be finalized by Ottawa, would see the new vessels built at Irving’s Halifax Shipyards.
The project is already at least five years behind schedule. The last of the current Halifax-class frigates — which have all been refurbished to extend their lifespans — is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2047, just a year after delivery of the last CSC.
Steel is not expected to be cut for the first CSC until 2024.
Ottawa’s efforts to re-establish Canadian shipbuilding capacity have unquestionably come with major growing pains. Both federal and shipyard officials seem to have greatly underestimated the challenges associated with developing the required building expertise and experience to be able to efficiently construct world-class naval vessels.
The auditor general sounded a note of cautious optimism that lessons learned will smooth the way forward, but noted there’s “little room for further delay.”
Or, given the financial headwinds Canada faces, further cost overruns.
