Feds sign $8 billion preliminary contract for new navy destroyers while Parliament sidelined

Murray Brewster · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Amid a flurry of past infinitesimal legislature and judicial appointments, the Liberal authorities softly announced Saturday it has signed an $8 cardinal implementation declaration for the operation of the Royal Canadian Navy's new destroyers.

It is lone the archetypal measurement successful the long-delayed process to regenerate the navy's aging frigates and the declaration with Nova Scotia's Irving Shipbuilding is fundamentally a downpayment connected lone 3 of the highly blase warships.

The eventual terms tag for the trio of destroyers is expected to apical $22.2 billion, elder defence officials revealed successful a method briefing precocious Friday. 

After releasing details to journalists, the national authorities imposed an embargo connected the merchandise of the accusation until Saturday morning.

Both the Defence Department and a spokesperson for Defence Minister Bill Blair refused to explicate wherefore a moratorium, which is usually imposed for either operational information oregon marketplace delicate information, was indispensable successful this case. The beingness of the multi-billion dollar declaration was besides revealed portion Parliament remained prorogued successful the aftermath of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's program to measurement down. 

The accusation became nationalist connected a weekend, 1 time up of the Liberals choosing a caller person and the adjacent premier curate — and conscionable weeks up of an expected national election.

Although quoted successful a quality release, neither Blair, nor Jean-Yves Duclos, the curate of Public Services and Procurement, were portion of the method briefing, nor were they made disposable to reply questions astir the milestone lawsuit and the tremendous terms tag.

One defence adept says it's wide the Liberal authorities wanted to hide the announcement and debar nationalist scrutiny of the project, which has been beset with delays and has already seen — according to the Defence Department website — an expenditure of $2.6 cardinal successful nationalist funds for plan and preparatory work. 

"They perfectly person to ain this decision, alternatively of hiding it and hoping that it disappears," said Rob Huebert, a prof of governmental subject and the interim manager for the Centre for Military Security and Strategic Studies astatine the University of Calgary. He noted that 1 of U.S. President Donald Trump's biggest complaints astir Canada is simply a deficiency of defence spending, yet the existent authorities chose to downplay an tremendous expenditure.

"We request to beryllium having this big treatment astir our information successful public, not hiding it distant successful a [media] merchandise connected a Saturday."

Concerns astir utilizing U.S. system

There are, however, a fig of politically explosive elements to the plan. 

The caller warships, which are a bigger, modified mentation of the British Type 26 frigate plan presently being constructed by BAE Systems Inc. successful the U.K., uses a U.S.-designed and built combat absorption system. 

In airy of Trump's threats to annex Canada by economical unit and the on-again-off-again commercialized war, determination person been calls for the national authorities to untangle itself from the U.S. defence concern complex. At slightest 2 of the Liberal enactment contenders person pledged to find ways to root much defence expenditures astatine location alternatively than from the U.S. 

A elder defence official, speaking astatine Friday's briefing connected background, dismissed the concerns astir utilizing the Lockheed Martin-designed and built strategy and downplayed the conception that the programme could beryllium held hostage done governmental interference successful the U.S. overseas subject income system.

"We're talking astir a vessel that's gonna beryllium much than 8,000 tonnes, astir apt the astir analyzable warship that Canada has ever built," said the official.

"So, it is going to beryllium comprised of systems from a full big of antithetic countries. And obviously … the main combat system, the Aegis limb system, is coming from the United States, on with immoderate different cardinal elements of it."

The authoritative went connected to repetition the modular enactment the subject has fixed lately  with respect to concerns astir co-operation betwixt the 2 countries, saying the military-to-military relations with the U.S. remains beardown and "as we talk close now, Canadians and Americans basal ticker broadside by broadside successful NORAD bid centres."

Cost for ships has ballooned

The different governmental flashpoint is cost.

The navy is hoping to get 15 of the destroyers, which were precocious designated arsenic the River people of warships.

The defence department's ain website, arsenic precocious arsenic Friday night, continued to estimation the wide outgo of gathering each of the warships astatine $56 cardinal to $60 billion. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has agelong maintained that the outgo would beryllium overmuch higher, suggesting successful a 2022 study that the operation signifier for 15 ships would magnitude to astir $80 billion.

The erstwhile numbers are dwarfed by the figures released connected Friday, wherever $22.2 cardinal lone gets the navy 3 ships. Officials accidental erstwhile the kinks are worked retired successful the plan and the system, the per-ship outgo volition lessen implicit time.

Huebert said he's not amazed authorities is being played with the numbers.

"It's a batch of money," helium said. "But, I mean, again, with immoderate maritime naval construction, the archetypal ones are ever horrifically expensive. I wouldn't beryllium terribly amazed if the fund goes considerably beyond $22 cardinal due to the fact that that's everyone's experience.

"It doesn't substance if it's the Americans, Japanese, whoever, the archetypal 3 [new ships] you make, it's specified a learning experience, and you ever effort to lowball it for governmental reasons, which is unfortunate."

When the British plan was selected a fig of years ago, the thought was that it was a alleged off-the-shelf plan and truthful cheaper to build. However, Canadian naval planners person modified the design, adding some value and further weapons to basal exemplary plans.