Bluenose II financial results to be made public

After almost two years of delays and an overblown budget, financial information surrounding the restoration of the Bluenose II will finally be made available to the public next month. 

Heritage deputy minister Kelliann Dean will appear before the public accounts committee June 18.

Earlier this year, Premier Stephen McNeil called the project a "boondoggle" and asked the auditor general's office to investigate. 

The auditor general was called in to do a total review of the project, which has now racked up a bill of $18 million. 

The Bluenose II was supposed to return to regular sailing in the summer of 2012 after an extensive two-year rebuild.

“We’re at that 95 per cent mark, in terms of completing the project, so with all of that I welcome this opportunity,” said Ince.

Ince said, even now, there may be additional costs with the restoration as the ship goes through testing and as readjustments are made.

Earlier this month a report by retired naval architect Dawson Miller that was leaked to the CBC revealed the ship’s project manager, designers and builders were all partly to blame for the costly delays for rebuilding the Bluenose ll.

Miller, who has more than 50 years experience in the shipbuilding industry, mostly as a project manager, submitted his report to the provincial government in February.

The province said it and its partners agreed to an independent third-party review to try to address a dispute around the delay and subsequent construction costs associated with the Bluenose II.

Miller was critical of the steel rudder that is the focus of ongoing steering problems with the ship. The wheel is about three times harder to turn than it should be, making navigation difficult.

Ince said he was not able to comment on the progress of the rudder steering systems at this time.