Today's poll question; should the government spend $33 billion to upgrade the Canadian navy and coast guard? This morning it was announced that Halifax was awarded the bulk of this massive contract, with British Columbia getting the consolation prize and Quebec being awarded nothing (though they will surely see some of the money through parts manufacturing). This was not awarded by the Harper government, but rather an independent group that had support from opposition parties. It was not a partisan decision, though I'm sure you'll hear accusations that Nova Scotia won the contracts to get Peter MacKay re-elected. Canada requires a larger navy than most countries because we have a substantially larger coast line than any other country in the world.
Frankly I don't care which province won the contracts, just so long as they were the best bids. John Ivison is already upset that we did not accept foreign bids, which could have produced better vessels at a lower price. It is a fair argument, and perhaps will be my next poll question. If we sent the contract to Germany we could get boats that are 20% better for 20% cheaper, but would not receive the benefit of domestic economic activity (and the tax revenue it brings). Let's just hope that we don't end up with a bunch of Bricklins and Fast Ferries...
This has to be BC's largest ship building contract since the Pacificat Fast Ferry fiasco, so hopefully our local ship builders are able to do a better job this time. Christy Clark was really jazzed up at the press conference with over the top enthusiasm that was bordering on comical. You will rarely see that level of excitement for finishing in 2nd place, but this is the first good news of her tenure as Premier, so I'm not shocked by her outpouring of emotion.
The pundits were saying that this will cost the Tories more support in Quebec, even though they were not involved in the decision. Quebec deserved their fair share, even if their bid was lousy...