In a virtual news conference, federal Fisheries Minister outlines the plan to build two icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard for its Arctic operations under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). She is joined by Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver will build one of the polar icebreakers. Davie Shipbuilding of Lévis, Quebec, will construct the second icebreaker, pending the company's formal admission as a partner under the NSS. Cost estimates will be provided once negotiations with the shipyards are completed. The federal government says this procurement approach will ensure that at least one polar icebreaker is delivered by 2030 when the Coast Guard's principal icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, is expected to retire from service. Seaspan Shipyards was awarded a contract in 2011 to build the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker for the Coast Guard, but the government removed the ship from Seaspan's order book in 2019. (May 6, 2021)
