Something Has to Give: Why Delays Are the New Reality of Canada’s Defence Procurement Strategy ...

• Main Author: Sloan, Elinor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The School of Public Policy Publications 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v7i0.42485.g30376; https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42485/30376

Recent waves of political controversy over military procurement programs, most notably the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project, are symptoms of an ongoing and increasingly strategic choice Canada is making in the way it equips its military. From the failure to settle on a design for the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (which had an originally planned delivery date of 2013), to the un-awarded contracts for new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft (initially anticipated nearly a decade ago) and the incomplete Integrated Soldier-System Project (once expected to be active by this year); to the delay in cutting the steel for the Joint Support Ship (initial delivery planned for 2012) needed to replace vessels that are now being decommissioned, Canadians are witnessing the results of a new philosophy behind the government’s procurement process. Canadian governments have always insisted on industrial and regional benefits for Canada when buying military equipment. But the massive defence spending promised under the 2008 ... : The School of Public Policy Publications, Vol 7 (2014) ...