Legislature Unanimously Supports Shipbuilding Bid

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly voted unanimously today, April 8, to support Irving Shipbuilding's bid for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

Under the strategy, the federal government will select two shipyards to become national centres of excellence for building large vessels for the Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard.

"This is the biggest opportunity for Nova Scotia since the navy was established 100 years ago," said Premier Darrell Dexter. "Nova Scotia is ideally suited to meet the federal government's needs. If successful, this contract would create and sustain up to 4,000 direct jobs across the province for the next 30 years."

"The economic impact and related spin-offs associated with winning this bid would be tremendous," said Liberal party leader Stephen McNeil. "This could create up to $7 billion in direct payroll, $2.7 billion in tax revenue, and $6.7 billion in consumer spending."

"Nova Scotians are the best shipbuilders in the world," said PC party leader Jamie Baillie. "Thousands of Nova Scotians currently work in the industry. Our modern facilities, exceptional track record, and highly skilled workforce make Nova Scotia the premier location for shipbuilding in Canada."

Irving Shipbuilding has invested almost $90 million in the skills of its people, and infrastructure and technology upgrades between 2006 and 2011. The company has an extremely capable facility that will continue to be upgraded.

"Irving Shipbuilding is pleased by such a strong showing of support from the representatives of our province," said Steve Durrell, president of Irving Shipbuilding. "The men and women of Halifax Shipyard are fully focused on delivering value for our current customers as well as preparing for the competition ahead, and we look forward to the results of the bid process."

The legislature also saluted the federal government for a fair, open, transparent and merit-based process to determine the award of the contracts.