Canada’s National Post [1] is reporting:
“The final report into the fatal fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi will be released Thursday and will not recommend the court martial of the ship’s captain, according to a national television report Monday.
CBC-TV’s The National reported that Cmdr. Luc Pelletier is likely to face some criticism about how he handled the disaster.
While on its maiden voyage to Canada last October, an electrical fire broke out aboard the warship. It led to the death of Lieut. Chris Saunders, a combat systems engineer. Eight others were also hurt.
You may recall the Chicoutimi was a hand-me-down ship, recently retired from the British Navy. The sub was on it’s first Canadian Voyage having been just picked up a few days before. One reason it was retired was the number of upgrades it would need to keep it in fighting trim. Upgrades which the Canadian government never undertook. Waterproofing electrical connectors, for example…. it was a failure of the existing waterproofing that cause the fire in the first place.
Amazingly the CBC has a fairly decent backgrounder [2]on this one. And to this point, it says:
“The investigation also found that the British navy upgraded its specifications for insulating the electrical connections on Upholder-class vessels in the 1990s. Two additional layers of sealant were recommended to provide “backup protection.” The sealant was added to the other three British subs as they were being built, but not to HMS Upholder, the vessel that would later be named HMCS Chicoutimi and sold to Canada. “
The commander of the sub, in the end, was given faulty equipment … The sub itself…. By a government so strapped for cash by it’s socialist giveaways they were and are forced to buy their military hardware on the cheap. In short, they are not committed to defending Canada. As a result, one person who WAS dedicated to the defense of Canada lost his life needlessly. Instead of focusing on THAT point, the government is likely to try and find some other escape hatch… Someone else on which to place the blame for this death.
We’ll see a lot about this over the next 24 hours.
Alas, it’s simply one more pothole in the road for a government that deals with many… All of it’s own making, and all of this will be forgotten by next weekend in the din of corruption investigations. I submit that this is as important as the stink of the corruption… Indeed, I would, if I were Canadian, consider this part and parcel of why the Liberal Party should cease to exist in Canada, it’s leaders.. Including Cretien, becoming residents of their Federal Prison system.
But you shouldn’t forget.
Think; We have a 3000 mile long open border with Canada. If they’re this openly not committed to their defense forces, how seriously do you suppose they take the task of border security? Do you suppose that’s a security risk for the United States?