Federal Action Needed Now on Shipbuilding
PREMIER’S OFFICE--Federal Action Needed Now on Shipbuilding Report
Ottawa should not wait until September to act on the shipbuilding report, says Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm.
He called on federal Industry Minister Brian Tobin to help the beleaguered Canadian shipbuilding industry by taking immediate action on the National Partnership Project Committee report, Breaking Through, released April 5.
“The report is a good first step in the creation of a national policy,” said Premier Hamm, “but shipyards and their workers need a swift response from the federal government if this industry is going to be able to compete effectively, and ultimately, if it is going to survive.”
Premier Hamm acknowledged that many of the report’s 36 recommendations need some further refinement but said there were opportunities for quick wins for the industry that Ottawa could act on immediately.
Specifically, the recommendations on refinancing and leasing, on federal procurement and on optimizing Canadian benefits from marine fabrication for the offshore are cost-neutral for the federal government and would provide the Canadian shipbuilding industry with the needed tools and flexibility with which to compete internationally.
For Nova Scotia, the issue of marine fabrication for the offshore needs much greater consideration in a future national shipbuilding policy, but the premier said it is an area where the industry would be able to show immediate progress.
Economic Development Minister Gordon Balser added that “The Canadian shipbuilding industry has demonstrated its ability to compete in the area of marine fabrication.
“Our government has actively sought to bring more offshore fabrication work to Nova Scotia, and we have already demonstrated our commitment to complementing any federal government efforts in this regard,” he said.
“Shipbuilding and marine fabrication are precisely the kinds of innovative, high-technology industries that the Atlantic economy must preserve and grow. Co-operative and immediate action on a national policy will help achieve that objective.”
Premier Hamm met informally with Mr. Tobin during a recent trade mission to Atlanta and urged the federal minister to move forward.
The premier told Mr. Tobin that Nova Scotia endorses the shipbuilding report, and that the province supports a federal- provincial mechanism to implement the recommendations and to develop a comprehensive national shipbuilding policy.
Mr. Hamm has also put forward Nova Scotia’s supportive position on shipbuilding to Prime Minister Chretien.
The premier said he continues to work co-operatively within the Atlantic region to push this issue with Ottawa. He acknowledged the leadership the Council of Atlantic Premiers has demonstrated on this issue in the past.
Since August 1999, the Nova Scotia legislature has also unanimously adopted several resolutions calling on the federal government to enact a national shipbuilding policy.
“Nova Scotia speaks with one voice on this important industry,” concluded the premier. “Atlantic Canada speaks with one voice. It’s now time for the federal government to act.”