Unions ask to delay ship contract signing

Norman’s removal casts ‘cloud of unease’

Unions representing the Department of Defence’s 24,000 civilian employees are calling on the Liberal government to postpone signing a key multibillion dollar maintenance contract for new navy ships amid concerns about the unprecedented removal of Vice Admiral Mark Norman from his position as the military’s second-in-command.

A letter sent Tuesday to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, the unions ask that the contract, scheduled to be approved by the Treasury Board in May, be delayed until concerns about the procurement process be “resolved or retracted.”

The letter was signed by 10 union leaders representing members including those involved in the purchase of military equipment, in ship maintenance and in other work in federal government dockyards.

Norman was removed as vice-chief of the defence staff on Jan. 9 by Canada’s top soldier, Gen. Jon Vance, who has offered no explanation for his action. An RCMP investigation into the alleged leak of information about the Liberal government’s shipbuilding program has been underway for at least two months.

Norman has not been charged, and his lawyer, Marie Henein, has described him as a honourable officer caught in “bureaucratic crossfire.”

The union leaders’ letter focuses on a new contract that would bring maintenance for the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and the navy’s new supply vessels under one deal.

Public Services and Procurement Canada is in negotiations with French defence giant Thales on the maintenance contract for the two fleets. It is expected to be awarded in the fall of this year.

Norman’s removal, the union leaders wrote to Sajjan, “has now cast a cloud of unease and doubt regarding the supposed transparency of the procurement of the $2.3 billion Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and the initial $2.3 billion expected for the Joint Support Ship Maintenance contracts.”

They also called on Sajjan to examine whether federal workers, who currently do such work, would be bestsuited to continue to handle such maintenance.

“We would like for you to reconsider the awarding of the contracts until such time a review can be done and a proper study conducted to consider the skilled and experienced Public Service members who are currently in those workplaces,” said the letter, signed by officials with the Union of National Defence Employees, the Professional Institute of the Public Service and the Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council, among others.

Sajjan’s office said Tuesday it had received the letter, but that the contract is the responsibility of Public Services and Procurement Canada.