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Canadian navy best choice to patrol Arctic
last update: Jun 23, 2009 09:24 AM
From an "PDDNet" article: The new chief of maritime staff says that the Canadian navy is still the best choice to patrol Arctic seas, even though its proposed icebreakers are looking remarkably like coast guard ships.
Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, who took over the navy's top post from Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, who retired after a 36-year naval career, told the Canadian Press "It's about sovereignty; it's about jurisdiction."
Last week, specifications for the country's six Arctic patrol ships, one of the cornerstones of the Conservative government's northern strategy, had been redrawn to keep the program within its existing $3.1-billion construction budget. These changes to the proposed patrol boats led critics to suggest Ottawa is not serious about defending the Arctic.
But McFadden insisted that the military is the only institution capable of meeting new and emerging threats in waters that will soon be ice-free part of the year. He said "Nobody can respond as rapidly to developing situations as we can. The coast guard employs superb mariners, but it's a civilian workforce governed by the Canadian labour codes. It is very difficult to retask the coast guard to missions that arise when are surprises. We respond, it doesn't matter what the surprise is."
The current fleed of warships is mostly middle-aged with 12 patrol frigates, which have just entered a multibillion-dollar life-extending facelift, as the backbone.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay stated earlier this year that he'd like to see a continuous shipbuilding program. However, the problem has been convincing other parts of federal government, most notably Treasury Board which has over the years notoriously opposed such a program.
Article:
Product, Design & Development, 22nd June 2009
