A Single Canadian Defence Procurement Agent /

However, any assessment of the probability of such a significant change to the related machinery of government must take into account the fact that the Liberals have a minority government. [...] Given the importance of sector-specific knowledge for public servants charged with billion-dollar complex system acquisitions and the paucity of such commercial understanding witnessed by (and in evidence, in terms of the actions of) me during the past decade, both broadly and specifically relating to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, this is an important issue. [...] Others have suggested that a compelling argument for a single agency is the creation of a larger pool of public servants to tackle the many challenges.13 At the present time, the degree of movement of executives between DND and PSPC is quite significant and disruptive so there is an element of truth to this hypothesis. [...] But the proposal for such a mandate assignment to the minister of National Defence would likely run afoul of at least three issues, in my view: i. Regrettably, this approach would not adroitly address the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which of course includes shipbuilding for the Canadian Coast Guard – nor am I suggesting that DND take on the task of building the coast guard’s ships in a transfe [...] In part, this is in response to the dearth of knowledge and experience within the uniformed staff in the department who hold significant influence in the project conception, development, plans and approval system.