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Canadian Centrist's avatar

Another great post, Blackcloud. An additional recommendation would be to form an all-party parliamentary committee to approve capital projects so we don’t ever again use capabilities as political footballs. The EH-101 and the on-again, off-again, on-again F-35 purchase are merely the most egregious examples of this. Politicians should tell us what missions they want us to be able to accomplish, let us define the capabilities needed to do that, and then buy the best equipment off the shelf. And yeah - I agree that a dedicated DDP could move projects much more quickly than the current lethargic pace of PSPC.

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Mary O'Keefe's avatar

You are so right. The same principles affect general government procurement, where the people needing products or services have their decades of experience dismissed in favour of the syndrome you describe above. Often the companies that are best at preparing bids are the least competent in delivering. Their VP comes in and makes a slick pitch and then their most recent hire does the work, which can end up being completely useless. Expert public servants know who is good and who is not, and that knowledge and experience is not ascribed sufficient value in the ridiculously long procurement process. Ditto for staffing.

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