CCGS Norman Bethune

For those of you who have super-human observation skills.  You are absolutely correct.  The ship pictured in the HADR website is not real.  Well it is actually real, but it is only 6 feet long, and radio controlled.  So, you caught me, but the website was never meant to display a real ship.   It was meant to show what was possible and why it was necessary.  Bethune doesn’t exist. But it should.  In fact, two ships of her kind should be built.  One for each of Canada’s main coast.  One to provide aid to Pacific islands and coastal areas and one for the Atlantic including the Caribbean.

The two CCGS Bethune class ships would be operated by the Canadian Coast Guard but funded through Global Affairs Canada.  The people who manage our Foreign Aid.

MS Astrix, a container ship, converted to a navy replenishment ship cost 677million dollars converted.

Canada’s annual Foreign Aid budget is 7.1 Billion. 

If a ship built to meet the description of CCGS Bethune would cost somewhere about the same cost as Astrix , then two such ships would cost only 19% of one year Canada’s Foreign Aid budget or approximately 1.3 billion dollars. Annual maintenance of the two ships would be a far smaller cost.  Considering that aid work done by these two ships would be direct, straight-line aid.  No middle men, no funnelling of dollars.  All costs would be directly controlled within Canada.  Efficiencies in purchasing of goods and supplies, and operational efficiency would be totally within the control of Canada.

So, what do you think?  Should Canada build Bethune and her sister ship?  Are there capabilities not mentioned?