Post by South Island Prosperity Partnership

Canada's biggest-ever defence purchase now has a preferred builder, and B.C.'s political and business leaders are staking their claim: up to 12 German-made submarines, at least half of which could call CFB Esquimalt home. Prime Minister Mark Carney recently announced that Canada has chosen German defence manufacturer TKMS as the preferred supplier, with negotiations to conclude by the end of 2027, and the first four vessels expected ahead of schedule in 2034. "Economic opportunities of this scale are rare for Greater Victoria: large-scale up-front investment followed by decades worth of service and support activities," says SIPP's Dallas Gislason. "In a moment like this, we at SIPP want to urge the region and its stakeholders from across public, private and non-profit sectors to come together to imagine creative ways that we can benefit from this." "Rather than being passive observers of federal investments into our communities, how can we create the procurement models, ownership models and local investment vehicles that keep more of these dollars locally to the benefit of local businesses and households? We look forward to facilitating this exploration in the coming period." https://lnkd.in/gc9VxwjR