October 2013
| Business World Magazine | 31
complished by understanding the condition
of the assets they currently have (such as is the
case with the waterfront), understanding the
levels of service the public wants, and investing
wisely.
SHIPS START HERE
The biggest coup in Halifax’s recent history,
however, was the landing of a massive ship-
building contract with the federal government
in 2011. The projected $35-billion contract
will mostly go to Halifax’s Irving shipbuild-
ers, but the contract will have economic rami-
fications across the country for the next few
decades. The Greater Halifax Partnership
projects that in a typical peak year during the
contract Nova Scotia’s real GDP will increase
by $800-million, as compared to the $569-mil-
lion increase among other provinces. Further-
more, the Partnership estimates that by 2016,
the contract may create as many as 10,000 jobs
per year.
The contract is, however, actualizing itself
slowly. Defense Minister Peter MacKay inked
the first $9.3-million in July 2012, a prelimi-
nary contract with Irving designed to facili-
tate the review of existing ships and plan the
execution phase. But it was, as MacKay said,
“the starting gun . . . [that] heralds the creation
of countless good-paying, long-term jobs”. The
Halifax motto: “From the Sea, Wealth” has
perhaps never proved so prescient. In all even-
tualities, the capital that can’t decide if it is a
small big city or a big small city has, undoubt-
edly, just become a little larger.
