Premier perturbed by pending naval cuts
Posted May 14, 2010 05:30:51 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nova Scotia premier Darrell Dexter says he’s concerned about plans to cut the navy’s reserve fleet in half.
Six of 12 coastal patrol vessels will reportedly be mothballed, three in Halifax and three in Victoria, leaving only three on duty on each coast.
Dexter says he’s worried about anything that leads to the paring down of naval operations.
“(Defence) Minister (Peter) MacKay would have my full support in making the case to cabinet and the prime minister on the importance of naval operations, not just to this province but to this country,” he said.
The navy can apparently no longer afford to operate all 12 ships, which are used mostly to patrol the country’s Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Military expert and political scientist Dan Middlemiss tells CTV news, the money is just one of two big reasons for the cuts.
“Part of it is personnel problems, the navy’s number one real problem right now,” he said. “The second one is finding money down the road to replace the current fleet, but right now, it’s people. They’re desperately short of people.
The ships are mostly operated by reservists, so it’s not clear whether tying them up will lead to job cuts.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the decision to retire the ships isn’t a done deal.
