A4

By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com

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Businesses in Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick and maybe the Fredericton area stand to reap a good chunk of the benefits from the $5.2-billion investment in the Forces' land combat vehicles.

"The repercussions are going to be across Atlantic Canada," Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency minister of state Keith Ashfield, the MP for Fredericton, said Wednesday after the announcement to buy at least 623 vehicles and refurbish 550 others.

Under the federal industrial and regional benefits policy, every dollar spent on Canadian military equipment must yield a dollar's worth of work in Canada. Atlantic Canada's share of that redistribution is pegged at $300 million, Ashfield said.

While not all of the work on the vehicles has to be done in Canada, the Canadian government requires that successful bidders spend an amount equivalent to the contract in Canada.

Companies can accomplish that in a number of ways. They can do the work in Canada, do the work abroad and spend on other projects in Canada or partner with Canadian companies and do part of the work here while spending the remaining value on other projects in Canada.

There's a good chance for business in New Brunswick, Ashfield said.

"There's the possibility of R&D spinoffs as well," he said. "That could be work done at universities or research work at that level."

Last year, Lockheed Martin Corp. invested $4 million to establish a laboratory at the University of New Brunswick for research into impact-resistant materials for the aerospace industry. The funding was part of the company's $4.9-billion contract to supply tactical lift planes to the Forces.