OTTAWA– Liberal critic for Fisheries and Oceans, Lawrence MacAulay, made the following statement today on Canada’s premier icebreaker and research vessel, the Amundsen, being stranded in dry-dock for at least the next year:
“It is very troubling that Canada’s iconic Coast Guard vessel, the Amundsen, has been taken out of service, and that the Conservative government did not see this coming and properly deal with the mechanical problems before a whole year of crucial scientific research capabilities were lost.
The Amundsen has been working flat out since 2003, when the Liberal government partnered with Canadian universities and research centres to re-commission the ship as an Arctic research vessel. Since then, it has served as a crucial research lab for some of Canada’s leading scientists looking into a variety of important issues, not the least of which is the environmental changes taking place in Canada’s Arctic.
With the Conservatives slashing jobs, Search and Rescue Centres, and millions of dollars from the DFO and Canadian Coast Guard, and with more cuts coming across the board in this year’s budget, it remains to be seen how much of a priority this vessel and the vital scientific research it provides to Canadians will be for this Conservative government.”
