Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 23, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 8 Winnipeg free november 1981 Canadas rundown Navy by John Best special to the free press Ottawa which has the longest coastline to protect of any country in the As Well As collective defence responsibilities on both the Atlantic and lost most of its Navy for a time the other because a couple of elderly destroy ers developed Leaky 16 destroy ers of late1950s and early1960s Vin Tage were withdrawn from service temporarily so they could be checked for the same All or nearly All of them Are ready to go to sea out of their bases at Halifax and Esqui for a Short Only combat ships we had in operation were four Halifax based destroyers in the Early 1970s new models by Canadian the episode of the Leaky boilers dramatically pointed up the extent of the disaster which has befallen the Canadian surface Fleet As a result of Liberal government defence policy in the Trudeau no other Branch of the service has suffered As much from the austerity imposed on the forces from 1969 to Steps have been taken to undo some of the damage caused in those years by the rundown of vital equipment sys which accompanied the decline in regular services manpower from to the army has been Given new tanks and armoured new antitank and antiaircraft the air Force is getting new fighter and new Long Range patrol aircraft have been there is also a program under Way to provide new but an incredibly leisurely it Calls for the construction of six new really Light to replace the six oldest destroyers now in the billion program is already two to three years behind with the first ship scheduled for Deli very in late 1987 it was originally scheduled to be launched in by 1987 the ships to be replaced will All be 30 and 31 years and even assuming the replacements Are completed by the end of 1990 a risky Assumption the last of those being retired will be 33 when finally paid manufacturing in Swift decline by Anthony Westell Ottawa it is hard to pick up a newspaper these Days without Reading of another Industry in another company another factory Lay ing off workers until business in and most of the damage is occurring in what we used to be proud to Call the Industrial heartland of on Tario and the latest employment statistics add to the sense of it is True that total employment in Canada Rose from in 1980 to last but in the manufacturing sector the number at work actually fell from to the Industrial sector of the Economy is obviously under severe pressure and it is going to get even the government is predicting higher Unzem and the evidence of the front pages is that manufacturing is in an accelerating we May be on the Edge of a wrench ing period of hardship and perhaps even an economic disaster on the scale of a major finance minister Allan Maceachen is at least nominally in charge of the National Economy in nobody is in charge and so he attracts most of the Public criticism for our deepen ing this largely explains the surprisingly hostile reception for his who could do better he is not being attacked in the main for what he did about economic strategy on budget or even for what he failed to there Are in fact very few spokesmen for business or labor or from the thin tanks and universities who would care to say precisely what he ought to have done in the Circum stances they Are no Wiser than he is being attacked in essence be cause he was unable to reassure an increasingly nervous country unable to explain convincingly what is wrong with the Economy and what is to be from those who think in conventional this criticism of Mac Eachen for standing More or is rather what was the poor puzzled Man supposed to do stimulate demand by cutting and thereby raise from Bay Street the expectation of More inflation or increase taxes to balance the budget when demand is already slipping or Cut taxes and Hope against Hope that the Money might trickle through into consumer spending and business investment in time to head off a recession nor was Maceachen facing Only a problem of managing Supply and de Mand in the Canadian sector of what is essentially a Continental our problems run much unprepared for change we have been warned for years that our Standard manufacturing industries must decline As developing countries enter the Industrial Era with cheaper labor and More modern but still we Are we have been warned also that automation will Cut into Industrial and Here come the robots to replace the human a new budget will not meet these nor will a new fiscal or monetary policy even a new finance we shall need eventually a whole new Economy adjusted to the realities of the world in which we must How to get from Here to there one strategy would be to reduce the role of government and rely on the discipline of the Market to Force change and but it is doubtful if the electorate in a democracy will allow government to abrogate its economic responsibilities for the alternative is government leadership not government planning and direction in but leadership to ensure that As far As possible All Levels of Agri culture and other private interests Are working within accepted guidelines to Ward Clear National the japanese Are to do it to some so also Are the West germans and the to mention a few their economies Are far from trouble but they work better Maceachen and his colleagues have made a tiny Start by producing their program for economic development As a complement to the poor thing that it it is a basis for discussion with the business and and May be remembered when the regular budget is Long Toronto circulation for your convenience the circulation department is open from to monday to Well deliver to your for Home delivery Call 9570550 Winnipeg free press i t at that of 14 destroyers remaining in assuming some have not Given up the ghost also a risky Assumption four will be As Young As the others will Range from 30 Down to 26 years of the hulls of All these ships were built to last about 20 25 at the out the defence department is working on a plan to replace not expected to go before Cabinet until next year or various Banda id Mea sures have been adopted to keep the More decrepit ships seaworthy until modern substitutes Are the Lack of behind the present replacement program is even by the standards of this govern ment in defence it has been three years since five Industrial consortium submitted proposals for design and construction of the new after examining the responses the government whittled the list Down to three and earlier this to the Competition Between these scan Marine of Montreal and Saint John shipbuilding and dry Dock of Saint is not expected to culminate in the award of a contract until around this schedule needs to be one proposal being talked about Here would in effect terminate the Competition and declare both finalists together with the governments inter departmental task Force on the Frig they would then proceed to work out the final design and construction and each in turn would be guaranteed part of the contract Busi the idea seems Worth Many of the Long list of firms associated with both consortium Are almost certain to get subcontract work any whichever Way the award expertise in the warship design and engineering Field is limited in Cana part of the governments reason for continuing the Competition is to get the lowest possible but with two consortium working together instead of against each the end result Coastwise May not be that especially since much time could be time is of the As the cracked Heater Heads on the steam boilers of the 25yearold destroy ers Ottawa and Saguenay poignantly even a year gained in getting some of Canadas rotting hulks out of the water and replaced by unto Date warships would be a contribution to this country increasingly porous maritime loads of values on microwave ovens just in time for Christmas Only sq95 while quantities last with any microwave oven Pur a value 3 Pree gifts total value 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