Steven Blaney the government to invest in new icebreakers,

Photo Pierre-Paul Biron
The conservative Steven Blaney called the Trudeau government to act by adding ice-breakers and tugs-of-quality on the St. Lawrence river.

Pierre-Paul Biron

Thursday, 4 January 2018 11:42

UPDATE
Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:43

Look at this article

The conservative Steven Blaney called the Trudeau government to act by adding ice-breakers and tugs-of-quality on the St. Lawrence river in order to avoid incidents like the one Wednesday, while a ferry was trapped in the ice.

• READ ALSO: 24 passengers stuck for four hours on the ship Alphonse-Desjardins

For the member of parliament for Lévis-Bellechasse-Les Etchemins, four hours past the Alphonse-Desjardins in ice of the river demonstrate perfectly the gravity of the situation.

“This is not the first time that a ferry stuck in the ice, but what is unique this time is that the Coast Guard has not been able to answer the call. The Amundsen was in repair to Méchins and the Terry Fox run, which is not a perfect ship, was also broken,” says Steven Blaney, exasperated by the lack of efficiency and the aging of the canadian fleet.

Pressure on Trudeau

The elected official is asking the liberal government to act in this folder before other incidents unfortunate occur. Either by ordering new ships, or in hiring boats while waiting to finish definitively the case, Mr Blaney press Justin Trudeau to take action.

“The fleet of icebreakers has more than 35 years. […] My recommendation for Justin Trudeau, for 2018, that is to take a good resolution and to stop thinking about the Caribbean and his holiday to the Aga Khan. It would be necessary to deal with the North canadian river, our economy and our security. It goes in for new ice-breakers for Canada and ships for the royal navy”, launched the member of parliament in point of press to the edge of the river.

In support of his comments, Steven Blaney cites several government reports and experts who call for massive investment in the fleet of the Coast Guard and the canadian navy. In a report on the state of transportation in the country, the former minister David Emerson said that the Coast Guard was “not equipped” to face the challenges associated with maritime traffic.

Davie ready to help

Recently affected by significant cuts, the shipyard Davie says it is ready to give a hand quickly to the government. In fact, the company has proposed to the government the draft Resolute two years ago, which would allow the Coast Guard to hand over a class icebreaker polar and three ice-breaking ways, but no response came.

The spokesman Davie said Thursday that the offer is still on the table. Does need a phone call from federal.

“The incident yesterday (Wednesday) is a perfect illustration of the relevance of the chantier Davie in what we might call the “debacle of the Coast Guard”. It is waiting for a signal because from our side, these ice-breakers may be back home and ready to be converted within three weeks. Davie is ready,” says Frédérick Boisvert, a spokesperson for the site.

The four ships of the Resolute were originally destined for the Shell program Alaska, a drilling project in the Arctic. A downturn in the oil market and a moratorium for the us government allow today the availability of icebreakers.