Thunder Bay route pitched for HMCS Brandon

The federal government and local politicians are exploring the idea of sailing the HMCS Brandon to Thunder Bay, Ont., before transporting it by land to the Wheat City.

Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Grant Jackson and Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett say they are still in talks with two Liberal cabinet ministers about acquiring the recently retired ship.

“Theoretically, you could sail the ship to Thunder Bay, and then that is a much shorter distance by land to get the ship the rest of the way to Brandon, as opposed to through the mountains,” Jackson said in an interview last week.

The ship is currently on the British Columbia coast, where it was decommissioned last month.

“We’re still investigating, but that is sort of where it’s at right now. We’re waiting to hear back from the federal minister responsible, just as to if they think that’s possible, and what steps might need to be taken if there is a path,” Jackson said.

Jackson has been in talks with Public Services and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound. Fawcett said he has also been talking with National Defence Minister David McGuinty.

On Friday, Fawcett said he was told the Navy is “currently undergoing an analysis of divestment options that would both serve the (Royal Canadian Navy) and the Government of Canada’s interests.”

Earlier in the week, the mayor said when he was in B.C. for the decommissioning ceremony, he talked about sailing the ship to either Churchill or Thunder Bay, and the latter was a popular idea.

“A lot of the people that have sailed on the HMCS Brandon out there really liked the idea — just in theory — but really liked the idea,” Fawcett said. “They would love to be able to come through here.”

At this point it’s still in the discussion phase, and nothing has been budgeted, he said.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Fawcett showed a plaque given to the city by the Navy to mark the ship’s retirement.

The dark-brown plaque was “fashioned from the ship’s own teak wood” and bears the ship’s own coin, Fawcett said.

“It honours the enduring bond between the people of Brandon and their namesake ship and the Royal Canadian Navy,” Fawcett read off the plaque, which will be displayed at city hall.

HMCS Brandon — which is the second ship bearing the name — was commissioned in 1999. The 55-metre-long Kingston-class maritime defence ship was crewed mainly by reservists and served “a variety of national and international operations and exercises, including fisheries and sovereignty patrols,” the federal government’s website says.

The first HMCS Brandon was part of Canada’s efforts in the Second World War. It was decommissioned not long after the war ended.

George Haggerty, a retired Navy lieutenant, said the idea of sailing the ship to Thunder Bay and bringing it by road or train to Manitoba from the Ontario city would make a lot of sense.

It would not only shorten the distance, but it would bypass the hurdle of the Rocky Mountains, he said.

“How many cities in the Prairies have the opportunity to have a warship that you could go on board and see?” Haggerty said.

“I think it’s quite an attraction for a Prairie city. A lot of people in a Prairie city would never get an opportunity to see a ship like that.”

He said it could also be turned into a tourist attraction and would be a great fit at the Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre.

By road, Thunder Bay is about 900 kilometres from Brandon, compared to a 2,100-kilometre distance from the B.C. coast.

The Sun reached out to ministers McGuinty and Lightbound. A spokesperson for Lightbound deferred comment to McGuinty, but the Sun didn’t hear from the defence minister by press time.

» alambert@brandonsun.com