THE atmosphere was jubilant at North Vancouver's Seaspan Shipyards Wednesday afternoon following the federal government's decision to award the company an $8-billion shipbuilding contract.
The agreement to build seven non-combat vessels - Coast Guard, fisheries, navy support ships and an icebreaker - is expected to produce 4,000 jobs over the next eight years, 3,200 of them in North Vancouver. A further 17 ships may also eventually be built here. The federal government also placed a $25-billion order for combat vessels with Irving Shipyard in Halifax.
The announcement marked the end of a high-stakes three-way race between the East-and West-coast companies and Quebec's Davie Shipyards to secure the lucrative deals, which are expected to breathe new life into the industry in the areas selected.
Although it was shut out of the large purchases, Quebec can still bid for two smaller contracts and maintenance work.
Premier Christy Clark flashed the V-for-victory sign to a cheering crowd of workers who assembled in the North Vancouver yard in reaction to the news.
"I am delighted," she said breathlessly. "This is a great day for British Columbia. . . . We worked hard at it, and that hard work today has paid off. Not just in a big sense, but a lot of individual senses too. It's paid off for all the people who work here who now have some certainty around their employment. It's paid off for all the families in the secondary industries that depend on shipbuilding."
The new jobs will earn workers anywhere from $40,000 to $120,000 a year, depending on their skills.
Clark delivered a boisterous, campaign-style speech that touched on several of her recent political themes, such as Families First, Canada Starts Here, and the expansion of trade with Asia.
"The biggest reason they chose us, and have no doubt about this, is because we have the skill and knowledge to build those ships and that skill and knowledge is in the people who stand behind me right now," she said.
Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth also received an enthusiastic reception from the crowd.
"Today is living proof that sometimes that scrappy dog really does catch the bumper of that car," he joked. "It was just two years ago that the entire shipbuilding industry, right across Canada, felt we were in a waning business, that the end was near."
What turned the tide, he said, was Ottawa's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, which placed two large, long-term contracts with two yards, allowing them to ramp up and retain their infrastructure and workforce. Wednesday's win, Whitworth said, will "revitalize shipbuilding in British Columbia."
Whitworth acknowledged that B.C. has been disappointed by federal procurement decisions before.
"I was skeptical they could keep the time frame," he said, "and would it really be nonpolitical? I'm here to report, as a skeptic, that the promises made by the federal government were kept."
In Ottawa, officials went to great lengths to stress the non-political nature of the selection process. The widely anticipated announcement was delivered by Françis Guimont, deputy minister of public works. He was flanked by several other senior bureaucrats, military officers and independent auditors.
Back in North Vancouver, Whitworth thanked the premier and Minister Pat Bell, labour leaders, First Nations and municipal governments. But he saved his highest praise for his Seaspan colleagues who laboured for months to put together the 30,000-page bid.
Whitworth laughed when asked if he was at all disappointed Seaspan had missed out on the $25billion combat vessel order.
"We won an $8-billion contract today," he said, to cheers, "which we believe is the largest federal procurement package ever in British Columbia."
Seaspan will invest $150 million to upgrade its facilities on the North Shore and in Victoria, and the province will spend $35 million on skills training.
Work on the first ship is expected to start in late 2012 or early 2013.
