Navy League Applauds Throne Speech, Fleet Renewal and Procurement Reform Essential to Nation's Economy and Security

The Navy League of Canada commends our government's commitment to fleet renewal and procurement reform, as reflected in yesterday's Speech from the Throne.

The Navy League is pleased to call the public's attention to its most recent paper, Military/Naval Procurement - A Flawed Process, published today by the CDA Institute. This paper examines the history of naval procurement in Canada and provides recommendations to ensure the process is effective, efficient and responsive to the needs of Canadians.

Shipbuilding provides some of the best paying high technology and knowledge based jobs in Canada. It spans high technology welding techniques to the development and manufacturing of the most sophisticated and complex computer systems in the country. Building federal ships in Canada is a direct investment in the Canadian economy, in Canadian workers and Canadian technology unlike any other industrial sector.

Today there is both an urgent need to replace our existing government fleets and an urgent need to stimulate job creation. A major step in achieving these two goals in this economic environment would be to embark on a national effort to replace the current federal fleets. The investment in this enterprise would stimulate research and development, design and manufacturing. It will create jobs for Canadians suffering from downturns in other industrial sectors. All federal fleets, the Navy, the Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans need to be replaced over the next two decades. Embarking on a sustainable renewal program will be an investment in Canada for Canadians.

However, for this to happen, we must first improve upon the process by which these vessels are procured. Military/Naval Procurement - A Flawed Process provides a roadmap to achieve both procurement reform and sustainable fleet renew through a continuous build strategy.

Canadian-built ships are among the best in the world. Continuing to give our sailors the equipment they deserve, and our workers the jobs they need, only makes sense. In the bigger picture, Canadians get the security we need and the prosperity we deserve.

Military/Naval Procurement - A Flawed Process is available at:

http://www.cda-cdai.ca/CDAI_menu.htm.