Richmond-based MDA may lose 150 employees if satellite project doesn’t continue

Richmond-based space technology firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has lost about 100 employees and could lose 150 more if the Radarsat Constellation Mission doesn’t continue.

The 100 employees that have already left were working at the company’s Brampton operation, MDA corporate communications manager Wendy Keyzer said in an email.

“The company’s Brampton operation … expects to lose another 50 [employees] in 2012 as a result of the cuts to funding in the space robotics area,” Keyzer said. “The company could lose approximately 100 employees in its Richmond and Montreal operations if RCM does not continue.”

The planned three-satellite system is designed to monitor and offer continual surveillance of Canada’s coast line, northern territories, Arctic waterways, maritime areas of strategic importance and defence interests around the world.

Uncertainty about the future of RCM arose after the federal budget earlier this year said that the money needed to continue the mission “as currently envisioned” was not available.

Marc Garneau, former astronaut and now a Liberal member of parliament, said although the government said in the House of Commons that the project will continue, they haven’t signed a contract yet.

“And they did not say when [it will continue] or provide any specifics,” Garneau said. “This is a program that I started seven years ago, I don’t see why suddenly, after the detailed design phase is nearing completion and it’s time to build it, there seems to be a hiccup.”

MDA, which designed the Canadarm, was awarded the contract to design the satellite system in 2006.

Garneau said if the specialized staff needed to build the satellites leave MDA it will be tough to get them back when the project does go ahead.

“There is a concern there and the government has to act quickly,” Garneau said. “This is an extremely important program for Canada.”

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/yourmoney

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Richmond+based+lose+employees+satellite+project+doesn+continue/6609509/story.html#ixzz1vEVUfcf0

Fate of Canadian satellite project unclear

CBC News

Posted: May 9, 2012 9:02 PM ET

Last Updated: May 9, 2012 9:54 PM ET

Industry Minister Christian Paradis says Canada is committed to a project that would see the construction of new satellites, but the company contracted to design the Radarsat Constellation says it’s losing engineers and scientists because the government isn’t spending the money required to actually build them.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) built the highly successful Radarsat-2, which launched in 2007. It can see through clouds, bad weather and darkness to scan land and sea. The surveillance technology is considered critical for protecting sovereignty in the high north and for monitoring Canada’s expansive territorial waters.

‘All I can tell you is, we are not under contract and our people are leaving.’—Dan Friedmann, MDA president and CEO

In November 2008, the Canadian Space Agency awarded MDA a $40-million contract to design the successor to Radarsat-2. The new Radarsat Constellation is expected to use three satellites for an even better picture and the constellation could later be scaled up to six satellites, the Canadian Space Agency says.

The design contract was awarded several months after the federal government blocked the $1.3-billion sale of the space technology division of the B.C.-based company to a U.S. company, saying it wasn’t convinced the sale would be of a net benefit to Canada.

MDA president and CEO Dan Friedmann said he thinks it will soon be too late to revive the project as skilled scientists and engineers seek work elsewhere.

In March, shortly after the federal budget was released, the company announced it was laying off workers, saying the budget didn’t include “funds required to continue the RADARSAT Constellation Mission as currently envisioned.”

At the time, the company didn’t say how many jobs would be lost, saying only that “given the level of uncertainty, the company is accelerating its steps to restructure its workforce related to this event.”

Friedmann said Wednesday that engineers and scientists are losing work because money isn’t flowing to the project.

“Yes, those people are losing their jobs, those people are looking for other jobs, some have already left and they will, by and large, leave the country because there is no work like that in the country — this is it,” Friedmann said.

‘Our people are leaving’

MDA —which designed the technology but does not have a signed contract to build the satellites — said it’s shutting down the program and is nearing the point where it won’t be able to revive it because all the engineers will be gone.

“All I can tell you is, we are not under contract and our people are leaving,” Friedman said.

Ex-astronaut and Liberal MP Marc Garneau, who oversaw the early days of Radarsat when he headed the Canadian Space Agency, said it would be “ridiculous for us to throw it in the garbage.”

“If there’s no money, there’s not going to be any satellites and this will have been a lot of money wasted on an exercise that’s not going to go anywhere,” Garneau said.

Garneau pressed the government Wednesday to provide more information on whether it intends to proceed with the project.

“We are committed to the Radarsat project and we are working on delivering in a cost-effective way,” Paradis said during question period. However, the minister did not provide details on how and when the project might proceed.

Letter to Denis Lebel regarding the closure of the Place du Parc post office

As a follow-up to the public meeting organized by Marc Garneau on April 27^th 2012 regarding the possible closure of the Place du Parc Canada Post office, Mr. Garneau wrote the following letter to the Honourable Denis Lebel, the Minister responsible for Canada Post.

It should be noted that no representative from the private franchise referred to in the letter was present at the public meeting to respond to comments.

7 May 2012

The Honourable Denis Lebel

Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Place de Ville

Tower C, 29^th Floor

330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5

Dear Minister Lebel,

I am writing to you on behalf of my constituents regarding the possible closure of the Canada Post office located at3575 Parc Avenuein Montréal, Québec. On March 1, Canada Post announced it was considering closing the post office and invited citizens to submit comments by e-mail or voice mail for a one-month period ending on March 31.  My constituency office started to receive a significant number of letters, e-mails and phone calls objecting to the possible closure and requesting that Canada Post hold a public meeting in the neighbourhood serviced by the post office. My office contacted Canada Post and urged them to hold a public meeting. I offered to organize the meeting myself in order to facilitate the process. Canada Post responded that they had conducted a sufficient amount of public consultation and declined to send a representative.

We proceeded to hold the meeting on April 27. Approximately 50 citizens and representatives of at least 9 different community organizations sent representatives who attended the meeting. The feedback I received – both at the meeting and through letters and e-mail – was strongly against the closure of the Place du Parc post office. The reasons cited were as follows:

• A large number of small businesses, organizations and individuals use the P.O. boxes at Place du Parc. They will incur significant cost and inconvenience to change their letterhead, envelopes and other office supplies and to inform their clients of a change of address. My constituents also argue that a nearby privately-operated franchise does not have a sufficient number of P.O. boxes available to cover for the closure of the Canada Post office, a fact that one of my staff members corroborated. In addition, the post office boxes in the private franchise are smaller in size, in some cases too small for some packages.

• The Canada Post office offers a unique service to students verifying that they have properly completed their applications for loans and grants. There are a large number of university students living in the neighbourhood – which includes a McGill residence – and during busy times of the year I understand that the Canada Post office serves 30-35 students per day. These students will have to go elsewhere or do without the service.

• Many constituents criticized the quality of the service offered by private franchises. They argue that employees are not properly trained, are prone to making mistakes, have a high degree of turnover, and, in general, offer a less friendly, slower and less professional service. Some of my constituents claimed that they typically experience a 40-minute wait to be served at private postal counters. Others claimed that prices for postal services were not always consistent; or that employees were not aware of some services offered by Post Canada. I also heard complaints that the space in the closest private franchise is too restricted and access is difficult for those with disabilities.

• Some of my constituents also argued that Canada Post was employing a “strangulation” strategy to justify the closure of post offices. My understanding is that the nearby private franchise was opened 4 years so. Afterwards the hours of service of the Canada Post office were reduced from 5:45pm to 5pm forcing clients to go to the private franchise if they wanted to use mail service after work on weekdays. The subsequent drop-off in business created by competition from the private franchise is then used to make an argument for closing the publically-operated service.

• Lastly, many of my constituents were unsatisfied with the level of consultation undertaken by Canada Post. They felt it important that a public meeting be held and that consultation not be limited only to e-mail and voice mail  (the contents of which are not shared with the public or even their elected representatives). I agree with them and feel it is important that Canada Post not only listen to citizens but provide venues for citizens to listen to each other when it proposes to close an office. There were also questions raised about the sincerity of the consultation process given the fact that a letter was sent to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers dated March 1, 2012 stating that the Place du Parc Canada Post office would be closed  (see attached). Sending representatives to a public meeting would have provided citizens an opportunity to ask about this. As it is, Canada Post’s current process feeds public cynicism that decisions are taken prior to public consultation, and amounts to little more than a public relations exercise.

For the reasons above, and on behalf of my constituents, I respectfully request that you intervene to prevent the closure of the Canada Post office at 3575 Parc Avenue. Furthermore, I request that you urge Canada Post to include public meetings as part of its consultation process when considering closing a post office.

Yours Truly,

Marc Garneau

Canadian kids need their own voice, says Garneau

BY GEMMA SMITH, POSTMEDIA NEWS MAY 5, 2012 Canadian kids need a voice, according to Liberal MP Marc Garneau. Garneau’s new private member’s bill, tabled Thursday in [...]

Read more

Closure of the Canada Post outlet at Place du Parc: Marc Garneau holds public consultation

For immediate release Montreal, April 28, 2012 – Marc Garneau, Member of Parliament for Westmount—Ville-Marie, held a public consultation Friday, April 27th regarding the closure of the [...]

Read more

MARC GARNEAU ON HAND TO CHEER EDDY NOLAN IN FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

For Immediate Release April 12, 2012 Montréal, QC— Marc Garneau, Member of Parliament for Westmount—Ville-Marie, was on hand today to cheer on Eddy Nolan who ran [...]

Read more

Liberals Demand Accountability on the F-35

“The Auditor General’s report makes it clear the Conservatives knew, or ought to have known, more than they were letting on,” concluded Mr. Garneau. “The irony is that this whole mess could have been avoided by simply doing what they said they were doing; holding an open, transparent competition. This is the only way to get the best plane, at the best price with the greatest industrial benefits. The Conservatives have no choice but to take full responsibility for this fiasco, then hit the reset button on the whole process.”

Read more

Liberals Call on Ethics Commissioner to Investigate Latest Case of Potentially Illegal Activities Involving Industry Minister

OTTAWA- The Liberal Party is requesting that Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson investigate reports that Minister of Industry Christian Paradis may have again violated the Conflict of Interest Act, said Liberal Ethics and Conflict of Interest critic Scott Andrews and Liberal House Leader Marc Garneau today

Read more

The astronaut and the school kids

Students could barely contain their excitement as he talked about his training in Houston, Texas and described the thrill of take off and how it felt once the astronauts got into space. “It gets very quiet,” he said. “And the first thing you want to do is to float off into space.” The mood in the room turned serious when he described seeing pollution and deforestation of earth from space. “I remember looking down and recognizing the earth is our home, our only home, there is nowhere else we can go,” he said. “We have this beautiful planet. We need to take care of it.” He also suggested that students interested in becoming astronauts study hard, take care of their bodies and be good communicators, because when you are part of a crew you have to communicate very well. The learning experience ended with students asking Garneau questions in French such as what does he eat in space, how much money he earned as an astronaut and does he believe there is life on other planets.

Read more

‘I would like to see you guys angry,’ Bob Rae tells students

By Sarah Deshaies Quebec bureau chief The Concordian January 31st, 2012   MONTREAL (CUP) — If you’re a young person, Bob Rae wants to hear what [...]

Read more