A RFP (request for proposal) for the design of the CG polar icebreaker, which financing was announced by government a few years ago, has been posted on the government procurement site Merx.

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has a requirement for a ship
design/naval architect contractor to deliver a design and
construction specification for building a modern multipurpose
Polar Icebreaker.

This is the first step to seeing a icebreaker stationed in the Canadian Arctic for a good portion of the year. Next step will be the port that the government promised.

http://www.merx.com/English/SUPPLIER_Me ... adpQ%3d%3d

If the CCG hadn't wasted all that money gussying up old the rustbucket Louis st Laurant, they could have had 2 brand new Polar 8 Icebreakers for the same cost. (Sweden took the design and built 2 for less than the Louis' refit.) Instead, they have a tarted up 42 year old rustbucket creaking about like mutton dressed as lamb! As one CCG desk sailor commented to me one day, "This would be a great job if it wasn't for the boats."

As for the port the Government promised, keep in mind that promises made in an election campaign expire on voting day.

Thank Mulroney for that, there was no plan to midlife the Louis and when it was announced that the ship refit was being directed to Halifax Shipyard, I think everyone was caught by surprise.

"Money talks, but it don't sing or dance and it don't walk." to quote a well known song and dance man

The Polar 8, hmmmm. Nice decision. A vessel that will do nothing, but definetly will burn tons and tons of diesel fuel. Great, especially when the governments of today find it perfectly ok to print money for nothing and screw the global markets so bad that anyone with a pension nowadays will probably not have one in a few years from now, unless of course you are an elected retard, then you will be set for life. How can this Polar 8 project be justified in real terms of money returned, there is no way. So sad!

That is so, but there will be quite a large chunk of cash, 800 million announced for this ship, pumped into the economy with the ships build, plus the yearly salary and operational costs.
The new shipbuilding RFP that is now being scrutinized at Public Works will ensure new vessels out for the next 30 years for the navy and civilian fleets, which are sorely needed. Paint and cosmetics can only cover so much.

I agree JK, that there will be a large influx of government funds, but we all know that most of that money will go to the Mulronyites of Canada. And the newbuilds they are going to build, what a waste of time. The Arctic patrol vessels are going to be the worst sailing vessels ever built, they have even decided to reduce the price/weight by removing the bilge keels. The people in Ottawa making these important decisions on the design and vessel requirements do not have the expierience and knowledge base that is needed for these kind of projects. There is too much nepotism installed in Ottawa. Why build 1 Polar 8, would it not be better to construct 4 or 5 Sir Wilfrid Laurier class vessels?

The need for icebreakers would be greatly reduced if we didn't have to keep the port of Montreal open year round. I see no reason why icebreaker assistance shouldn't be on a "user-pay" basis, either. We have enough ice free ports in Canada, we don't need to subsidize ports which freeze up in winter.

That was true, right up until CN pulled up all of the tracks out of Halifax. A single line isn't going to cut it. Plus Montreal is closer to the population center.
My Dad worked on the Saint John waterfront when I was a kid, as a longshoreman handling break bulk. I can pretty well tell you when they opened the St Lawrence year round, that was when he stopped working full time.

Truthfully, how much ice is out there in the Gulf of St Lawrence these years? The only ice is in the river itself and the icebreakers also serve to control flooding by keeping the ice moving.
I think there is an user fee on the services, but probably am wrong. The polar is going to be in the Arctic anyway, for most of the year, or so announced by our PM.