Ottawa will grant a new contract at the shipyard Davie

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Guillaume St-Pierre

Thursday, February 22, 2018 12:59

UPDATE
Thursday, 22-feb-2018 13:22

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OTTAWA | The federal government announced Thursday the award of a contract for $ 4.4 million in the shipyard Davie, which is fighting for its survival.

“This is good news for the largest shipyard in Canada,” responded the spokesperson of the directorate of Chantier Davie, Frédérik Boisvert.

“We are proud to be partners of the government of Canada for the maintenance of the federal fleet”, he added.

The contract provides a few dozen jobs on the construction site for a few months. The workers will carry out repair work on the icebreaker CCGS Des Groseillers.

The agreement of $ 4.4 million is, however, far from ensuring the sustainability of the long-term project, believes a well-informed source within the shipbuilding industry.

“This contract is only a few months of work for a little more than fifty employees. The federal government will need to do much more and much better to ensure the survival of Davie,” said this source.

Davie has laid off 800 workers in the last few months, due to a lack of federal contracts. Add to this the loss of about 1,000 jobs among the suppliers of the construction site.

The Trudeau government admits that the contract of maintenance of the CCGS Des Groseillers is “not the panacea” to the problems of Davie.

The liberal mp Steven MacKinnon believes at least that the agreement will have a “beneficial impact on the project” marine and its workers.

The Davie and the Trudeau government are still negotiating for the purchase and the modification of four icebreakers of foreign ownership currently unused.

An agreement between the two parties would ensure the retention of hundreds of jobs over the long term on the job site.

Mr. MacKinnon did not want to provide update on the status of discussions. He said he was “sensitive” to the situation of the workers, but said he must also ensure proper use of public funds.