Representatives from Canada's shipbuilding industry will be in Prince Edward Island on January 3 to hear Islander's suggestions for saving shipbuilding in this country.
A four-person panel will hear briefs in the boardroom of the Department of Development and Technology from 1:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon.
The panel was struck following a forum on shipbuilding held in Newfoundland in the fall. At that time, Industry Minister Brian Tobin pledged to help the industry. As Premier of Newfoundland, Tobin had urged the federal government to bring in a national shipbuilding policy. The panel will present it's findings to Tobin in the hope of convincing him to put a shipbuilding policy in place.
Sixty-eight countries in the world have major shipbuilding industries; sixty-seven of them have supports and policies in place to aid those industries. Canada is the only exception. The lack of such a policy has made it difficult for Canadian companies to compete for contracts in the global marketplace.
Development and Technology Minister Mike Currie will make a presentation to the panel on behalf of the province of Prince Edward Island. "East Isle Shipyards and it's workers have fought hard to keep their industry alive in this province. But they can't hope to keep up that fight without the support of a national shipbuilding policy," he said. "I want to make the point that this industry is important to PEI and that we shouldn't just let it go."
The panel will also hear from the owners of East Isle shipyards and from members of the union who work in the plant. There will be two hours at the end of the session for presentations from the public.
In the past, groups have called for a national shipbuilding policy which would include a series of tax measures that would make Canadian-built vessels more competitive, government procurement programs and a training policy that better reflects the needs of the industry.