Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan says Ottawa will provide $8.1 million to help grow the South Island economy, including companies like Barnacle Systems that specialize in marine technology.
Brandon Wright is the founder and CEO of the company. He says the business produces a system for boats where owners check in on the health of the boat from their smartphone, tablet or computer. Barnacle provides remote surveillance and monitoring of everything from a burglar on your boat, to the status of its batteries, to whether an abandoned vessel has sunk.“Ninety percent of our revenue actually comes from protecting RCMP, DFO, Canadian navy vessels, so we’ve expanded," said Wright from the Oak Bay marina, where his company’s office is headquartered.
"We originally were in 40 countries for recreational boating, but now support a lot of government and military vessels here in Canada.” Some of Tuesday’s funding will go towards the not-for-profit South Island Prosperity Partnership that will help companies like Barnacle make further international connections through events like trade shows and conferences.“What we want to do is make sure Indigenous people are part of the blue economy,” said Christina Clark of the Indigenous Prosperity Centre.