Nova Scotia Today | May 26, 2026

As you well know, Canada is in the middle of the procurement process for a new fleet of submarines to support the operations of the Royal Canadian Navy.

The plan is to buy 12 of these subsurface vessels to be split between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.

It's not a cheap proposition.

The numbers vary, but the latest figures I was able to find on the cost of this program range anywhere from $60 to $80 billion.

And, as is often the case, the final price tag usually comes in much higher than those estimates.

So $100 billion isn't out of the question.

I've asked both Premier Houston and Mayor Phil Moore what this purchase means for the province and the city.

Both leaders' eyes widen with joy on the prospect of a repair facility likely to be built in Halifax that would bring money to the region very similar to the dollars discussed when we were all trumpeting the Ships Start Here program for the Irving Shipyard.

I have no doubt this would be a big boost to our economy, and I don't want to sound like a downer here, but...

Let me ask you this question.

We all pay federal taxes.

We all contribute to the coffers in Ottawa.

And I don't think I'm out of bounds saying that many of you listening this morning say that you pay too much tax.

Now, I'm not a military analyst or a military planner or even an admiral.

Heck, I even served in the Army, not even in the Navy.

And what I may say next may not be a popular opinion around here, given what I just said earlier.

But the modern battlefield is changing.

What was conventional warfare just a few short years ago, no longer the case.

The Ukrainian military, albeit with a lot of money from nations around the world, has held the Russians off for over four years.

And how have they done it? With a heavy reliance on drones.

Use of drones has been prevalent in Afghanistan, Iraq, and even now during the war in Iran.

These are effective weapons on the battlefield and are a fraction of the cost of building conventional weapons like tanks, jets, and yes, submarines.

Underwater drones are being developed to handle some of the surveillance and attack capabilities that for decades have been the realm of submarines.

Now, the roadmap for our sub-purchase puts the first vessel alongside a pier in Canada in 2035, if all goes well.

That's nine years from today.