Thursday, October 20, 2011

Keddy congratulates Irving Shipbuilding

South Shore-St.Margaret's MP Gerald Keddy
The MP for South Shore-St. Margaret's is congratulating Halifax's Irving Shipbuilding on winning the largest piece of the federal government's $33-billion shipbuilding program. The decision gives Irving $25-billion in combat ship construction as the prime contractor for the navy's new warships. Gerald Keddy says its great news for both the South Shore and the rest of the province.
"Irving Shipyard, obviously, in Shelburne will be an immediate winner. But every manufacturer, every shop, the two major yards in the province can't build all these vessels and they can't do all the superstructure. There wil be a lot of work let out here, I would expect, to shipyards and the shops not just in the South Shore but throughout Atlantic Canada."
Keddy expects thousands of jobs to be created from the project. Irving Shipbuilding will enter contract negotiations with the federal government with hopes of starting shipbuilding production as early as late 2012.