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Harper Conservatives deserve credit for shipbuilding procurement process

Commentary on the shipbuilding decision is nearly absent in Quebec newspapers today, indicating the Harper government's procurement process was an unmitigated success.

Tory politicians remained out of the process, leaving the decision entirely to senior bureaucrats.

Bids were analyzed on a "blind" basis, meaning those doing the evaluating did not known which bidder's proposals they were scrutinizing. The documents were simply labelled Company A, B or C.

Irving Shipbuilding's Halifax Yard was awarded the contract to build 23 warships for the Navy, at a cost of $25-billion. Seaspan Marine's Vancouver Yard will receive $8-billion for non-combat support ships for the Navy and new coast guard vessels. Quebec's bid failed to make the cut.

Unfortunately, while Quebec columnists and pundits have grudgingly accepted the bureaucrats' decision, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats have already started with their grumblings.

The Montreal Gazette reported the Bloc accused the Harper government, with the support from the New Democratic Party, of "completely abandoning Quebec shipyard workers" and robbing the Quebec yards of 1,500 long-term jobs.

The whole province, from employers to workers, expected Davie to win a "significant part" of the $35 billion of contracts for combat, noncombat and smaller vessels, the Bloc said in a statement.

"This would have preserved Quebec's shipbuilding industry, but now that hope is dashed."

The NDP also released a press release slamming the Tories for "picking winners and losers."

"This is great news for Nova Scotia and British Columbia, and I congratulate them wholeheartedly. But Canada has the longest coastline in the world, making shipbuilding a critical strategic industry in all corners of this country," the statement quotes interim leader Nycole Turmel saying.

"This government announcement leaves our Quebec area shipbuilding in a more fragile position."

NDP MP Peter Stoffer, however, was a little more complimentary to the government.

He told the Embassy Magazine, there was no other way than to give the government credit over the independence and fairness of the program.

Certainly, the Harper government deserves credit for the procurement process.

Could you imagine the outcry in Quebec today if the government, directly, chose Nova Scotia and British Columbia over la belle Provence?