Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement

In a comprehensive study of the defence-procurement environment and the legislative and regulatory framework that governs the process, Alan Williams argues that an inoperable procurement process has led to the near disarmament of the Canadian Forces, the collapse of national defence policy, and a system compromised by bureaucracy and conflicting interests. The only way to fix these problems, says Williams, is to completely reinvent the system of defence procurement, from the roles of various people and organizations to the process itself. Williams also examines questions surrounding efficiency, accountability, and the motivations of politicians and bureaucrats in defence spending. He provides an exhaustive examination of a complex and vital process - a virtual roadmap for a reconstruction that would allow Canada's defence spending to support national security and the Canadian Forces.

This book challenges the perceived underlying causes and culprits of the ongoing challenges in Canadian defence procurement, arguing that although headlines often put the blame on the political leadership, the defence procurement bureaucracy, ongoing pressures in the defence industry and continuous demands placed on Canada though its alliances also carry a large part of the responsibility. Focusing on four main case studies: the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Plane, the Joint Support Ships, the Medium Support Vehicle System and the Halifax Class Modernization, the author offers a comparative analysis of how these ongoing procurement efforts were dealt with by different administrations, from Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin to Stephen Harper.

In 1993, Canada’s Liberal Party cancelled an order to replace the Sea King maritime helicopter. The Liberals claimed the Tory plan was too expensive, but the cancellation itself actually cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The incident drew public attention to the waste in Canada’s defence spending and to the under-equipped state of its military. Aaron Plamondon ties the bungled attempts to replace the Sea King – before and since 1993 – to the evolution of the weapons procurement process in Canada since Confederation. He reveals that partisan politics, rather than a desire to increase the military’s capabilities, has driven the nation’s policy-makers.

Defence procurement in Canada is a mess, with hundreds of millions of dollars being routinely wasted, despite which the Canadian Armed Forces is woefully underequipped and lacking crucial capacity. Charlie Foxtrot shows why past governments failed so spectacularly to efficiently equip and manage the CAF, and how to change that.

This open access book compares the experiences of large-scale military procurement in Canada and Australia. Focusing on the recent frigate and jet-fighter programmes, it demonstrates how delays suffered in delivering weapons systems and platforms in these countries have been caused by misalignments between the strategic requirements set out by the armed forces and government defence policies. By bringing the insights of public management and administration to those of defence studies, the book presents policy options that will help improve the nature of future large-project military procurement. It will appeal to scholars and students of public administration, public management, and defence studies, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

This paper argues that Canada has much to learn from the Australian's on how to reform both its defense procurement process and relationship with defense industry. Craig Stone, Director of Academics with the Canadian Forces College, examines Australia's approach to establishing a defense industry policy with a set of Priority Industry Capabilities and how that policy connects with military procurement in order to identify those lessons that might be useful for Canada.

A history of failed attempts to replace the Sea King maritime helicopter reveals the political nature and shortcomings of the Canadian defence procurement process.

This edited volume provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary debates and issues in Canadian defence policy studies. The contributors examine topics including the development of Canadian defence policy and strategic culture, North American defence cooperation, gender and diversity in the Canadian military, and defence procurement and the defence industrial base. Emphasizing the process of defence policy-making, rather than just the outcomes of that process, the book focuses on how political and organizational interests impact planning, as well as the standard operating procedures that shape Canadian defence policy and practices. Thomas Juneau is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada. Philippe Lagass? is Associate Professor and Barton Chair in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada. Srdjan Vucetic is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada.