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Until new supply ships are built (or a commercial tanker is refurbished to serve as a stop-gap), the Navy will remain a glorified coastal patrol.

But Seaspan, which is also slated to construct new supply ships for the Navy at an estimated cost of more than $2 billion, is able to handle only one build at a time. Which means the first supply ship is still years away from construction, let alone completion. The federal schedule says work will begin in 2017. That appears to be, given the historical pattern with such projects, an aggressive target, to put it politely.

Then there’s the Quebec-based Davie Shipyard. Having missed out on the NSPS sweepstakes — it was insolvent at the time — the yard is now a going concern under new owners, and is lining up for its share of the spoils. Davie has proposed to refurbish a commercial tanker and lease it to the Navy as a supply stopgap, at an estimated annual cost of between $35 million and $65 million, depending on the length of the lease, plus $12 million for crewing. The proposal seems sensible enough, as far as it goes, and there is no denying the Navy’s need.

But there are a couple of wrinkles: first, neither Seaspan nor Irving is keen on seeing Davie getting in on the NSPS action; Irving has in fact advanced a supply-ship stopgap of its own. Second, Davie’s yard just happens to be in the Quebec City-area riding of Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, one of five Conservative MPs in Quebec. When Defence Minister Jason Kenney announced on Wednesday that Ottawa is in discussions with Davie about its proposal — discussions, mind you, not a done deal — the caterwauling from its rivals was instantaneous.