Canadian taxpayers will foot the bill for repairs to the engines on at least two of the Royal Canadian Navy's brand-new Arctic patrol vessels because the one-year warranty on those vessels has expired.
Defence Department deputy minister Bill Matthews delivered the news during an appearance before the House of Commons public accounts committee on Monday, shortly before the department reported the repairs will end up taking longer than expected.
The government plans to buy eight Arctic patrol vessels from Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding, including six for the Navy and two for the Canadian Coast Guard. Ottawa is paying $5 billion for the naval vessels and $1.6 billion for the coast guard ships. He also appeared to leave open the possibility of trying to recoup some of the repair costs from Irving, saying he wanted to take a close look at the results of a technical investigation into the problems afflicting the vessels.
Preliminary reports eventually identified issues with the engine cooling system as well as the drinking water system on the vessels, whose costs have skyrocketed since then-prime minister Stephen Harper first announced plans to build the fleet in 2007. Lamirande did not say how much the repairs will cost, but did indicated that it was unlikely the Defence Department would meet its original timeline of having HMCS Harry DeWolf and HMCS Margaret Brooke back in the water by April.
Matthews was appearing before the public accounts committee as it was conducting hearings into an auditor general's report from last year that found significant gaps in Canada's ability to monitor and police its Arctic waters.
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