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GOLDSTREAM NEWS GAZETTE - Friday, October 21, 2011 GOLDSTREAM NEWS GAZETTE - Friday, October 21, 2011
Seaspan awarded $8 billion federal shipbuilding contract Erin McCracken News staff
Cheers were the order of the day in Victoria and Esquimalt after the federal government announced it is awarding West Coast-based Seaspan Marine Corporation an $8-billion noncombat shipbuilding contract. The more lucrative $25-billion combat-vessel contract went to Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding. Quebec-based Davie shipyard came away with nothing. Seaspan, which owns Victoria and Vancouver Shipyards and the Vancouver Drydock, will build a non-combat naval fleet that includes Canadian Coast Guard ships, an icebreaker and joint-support navy ships. “You always hope for the biggest but this is nothing to sneeze at,” said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. “It would have been nice to get the $25 billion but $8 billion is going to provide us with some stability at the (Victoria) shipyard.” She said the lucrative contract puts Esquimalt on the map, and the township’s industry and commercial sector are
open for business. Seaspan has said all along that the 20- to 30-year contract work would result in new and long-term jobs, and prompt capital infrastructure investment at the shipyards. The company plans to do most of the ship construction at its Vancouver yard beginning late 2012, while 15 to 20 per cent of the workload will fall to Victoria Shipyards. The contract “will be bringing good paying jobs to the region, jobs that go on and on,” said Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, adding it will represent a boon to Greater Victoria’s shipbuilding and marine industry, which nets more than $1 billion in economic spinoffs each year. “This is a contract that will continue giving for a long time and it’s very exciting.” Not since the Second World War has the federal government awarded shipbuilding packages of this magnitude. Together the contracts, which make up the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, are worth $33 billion. “While we felt we were more than capable of building the combat ships, we are honoured
to have been chosen to provide non-combat vessels for the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy and Coast Guard,” said Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth. The work is a win for B.C. since it will inject billions of dollars into the economy and create an average of 4,000 jobs over the next eight years, according to Seaspan. “It tells us that Canada works, so B.C. can get to work,” Premier Christy Clark said at a meeting of the B.C. Liberal caucus, which erupted in cheers when the announcement was made from Ottawa. “Eight billion dollars spent on shipbuilding, on the suppliers, $8 billion spent throughout the economy, and not just British Columbia’s economy,” Clark said. “This represents a really positive sign for our budget. You won’t see it in the next six or eight months, but its impact is absolutely going to be felt.” The umbrella contract agreements will be assigned by end of the year, and following that individual ship construction contracts will be negotiated. —with files from Tom Fletcher.
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Capital Regional District Notice of
Public Hearing Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Sections 890, 891 and 892 of the Local Government Act, that a Public Hearing: Will be held at: Malahat Fire Hall Located at: 935 Whittaker Road, Malahat, BC On: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7 pm To consider adoption of: Bylaw No. 3721, cited as “Official Community Plan for Malahat Bylaw No. 1, 2010”. Bylaw No. 3721 covers the area referred to as Malahat, which is a part of the Capital Regional District (CRD), as outlined on Map No. 1 which is attached to and forms a part of this bylaw, and repeals the Capital Regional District Bylaw No. 3228, cited as the “Official Community Plan for Malahat Bylaw No. 1, 2004”. The proposed bylaw repeals the existing Official Community Plan by including: ä Greenhouse a Gas (GHG) Reduction statement, ä amending the Development Permit Area No. 1: Steep Slopes by changing the lands designated from areas having slopes exceeding 20 percent or 11 degrees in slope over a minimum 6 metre run to areas having slopes exceeding 30 percent or 16.7 degrees in slope over a minimum 10 metre run, ä providing additional exemptions for development permits, adoption of the Parks Plan, and ä incorporating revised mapping. The actual bylaw should be reviewed to determine specifically how particular lands may be affected. All persons who believe that their interest in property is affected by the proposed bylaw will be provided an opportunity to be heard, or to present written submissions, on matters contained in the proposed bylaw. A copy of proposed Bylaw No. 3721 and other relevant documents and information may be inspected at the Juan de Fuca Planning office, 2 – 6868 West Coast Road, Sooke, BC between the hours of 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday from October 19 to October 26, 2011, excluding statutory holidays, and are available from the CRD website at www.crd.bc.ca/jdf. Written submissions should be sent to the Juan de Fuca Planning office, by mail to Box 283, Sooke, BC V9Z 0S9; by email to jdfinfo@crd.bc.ca or by fax at 250.642.5274. Written submissions should be received no later than 4 pm on October 26, 2011 to ensure availability at the public hearing. Submissions will also be accepted at the public hearing. Following the close of the public hearing, no further submissions or comments from the public or interested persons can be accepted by the CRD Board of Directors. The public hearing on Bylaw No. 3721 will be held by the Electoral Area Director, or Alternate Director, as a delegate of the Board of the CRD. A copy of the CRD Board resolution making the delegation is available for public inspection along with a copy of the bylaw referred to in this notice. For further information, contact June Klassen, Manager, Local Area Planning at 250.642.1500 local 206. S. Santarossa, Corporate Officer