Douglas Noftell stands near the Irving shipyard, which once employed more than 3,000 people who built high-tech frigates, in Saint John, N.B. on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Noftell was among the last group of workers who walked out of the facility, in 2003 where he spent much of his working life. The national shipbuilding procurement program aims to end the boom and bust cycle of the industry and replace it with a steady flow of work to sustain highly skilled jobs over 20 to 30 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan