Vanguard Magazine

M A R I T I M E www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2024 31 tended Docking Work Periods (EDWP). Unlike the Halifax class, which is feeling the shock of non-discretionary repair only now, in the Victoria class we felt it almost immediately. The driving constraint is our overall capacity to manage the mainte- nance demand. Two key pinch points are the availability of expert submarine engi- neering resources who can guide work, and the availability of sufficient shipyard capacity to avoid having submarines backlogged waiting for third line mainte- nance. Issues with overall reliability, sup- ply chain difficulties given both the origin and the 'orphan' nature of this fleet, and our capacity to cope with the second line maintenance demand have further com- pounded the challenge. Like the Halifax class, this fleet will operate well beyond its intended design life. Although the Victoria class acquisi- tion was only intended to bridge Canada's submarine capability until such time as a more permanent solution could be found, the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project is only just getting started, meaning further challenges lie ahead. Kingston class We've been relatively fortunate with the Kingston class. The smallest and least com- plex of the 'operational' fleets, the Kings- ton class has the same trend as the Halifax class in respect to its maintenance require- ments, however, we are still well able to cope with the demand on a 60M cycle. Its challenge is the transition from the Minor Warships and Auxiliary Vessels (MWAV) III contract to MWAV IV, which involves moving from an established incumbent to a new entrant. That said, the Kingston class, like the Halifax and Victoria class- es, is now operating beyond its designed life. While we are better able to cope with changes in demand for this fleet at present, there is a need to bring a Kingston class replacement project into Definition phase. Auxiliary classes There are other smaller recapitalization requirements for auxiliaries as well. We have the Naval Large Tug project under- way to provide replacements for Canada's aging Glen class tugs, and we have a re- quirement to recapitalize the small but mighty Orca class fleet. While the Orcas are relatively new compared to the other fleets, they have a very high usage rate as training workhorses and are increasingly showing signs of wear and tear. Conse- quently, there is a need to move forward with a recapitalization project for the Orca fleet in the very near term. How To Move Forward So, what would I offer as key principles to apply to make the best of the situation we are in? 1. Mission Focus Against all of the day-to-day pressures, cash flow and Human Resource management, commercial, programmatic, and risk- management decision making, we must all remember what our work is for and why it is important. At the end of the day, the work we all do supports a free, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Canada now and into the future. No other interest – personal, private, corporate, or commercial – should ever come before the national in- terest as defined by the duly elected federal government. Within that objective, the priority should be the lives and well-being of Canadian Armed Forces soldiers, sailors and aviators sent on missions in support of the national interest. The Navy's motto of People First, Mis- sion Always is appropriate in this respect. Mission Focus for defence procurement specialists and the supporting industries means making Canadian Armed Forces end-users our focus, ensuring that the goods and services we provide to them are safe, operationally relevant and fit for purpose – and that they are provided in a timely way, at fair cost, and at high quality. 2. Honesty It does no one any good to sugar coat a challenging situation. But it's important not to be overly pessimistic. Unchecked pessimism can destroy morale, impair motivation, and impede either starting new initiatives or staying the course when things are hard. Boundless optimism isn't particularly helpful either. Optimism bias is an ever-present risk, creeping into our de- cision making and leading to the establish- ment of unattainable objectives that result in unmet expectations, fair criticism, and unwanted scrutiny. Being overly optimistic or overly pessi- mistic can interfere with prioritization of effort and resource planning and can erode trust. By contrast, conservative and ob- jective assessments informed by the best quality information, including an honest appraisal of challenges and limitations, fa- cilitate reasonable expectation-setting and credible resource planning. 3. Open Dialogue, Empathy and Collaboration We need to be able to talk about challeng- es, pinch points, and potential solutions. We need to be able to challenge ourselves and one another to develop a truly shared awareness of challenge and opportunity. We may not always agree, but success re- quires the ability to have hard conversations while maintaining respect and professional courtesy. When done well, collaboration will translate to win-win outputs. Of note, in recent years we've increas- ingly used relational contracting principles, codified into relationship charters, when the work is complex or when the definition of success is ambiguous. These charters describe specific behaviours used to build positive relationships and collaboration rather than encourage highly transactional contracts whose objectives may have been set without adequate protection against optimism bias. While not always necessary, nor a guarantor of success, relational con- tracting can be good risk mitigation when things get tough in a complex business re- lationship and can help stakeholder organi- zations get back on track. 4. Professionalism and Ethics Maintaining appropriate professional re- lationships should be foundational to the ethics of the defence procurement com- munity. We would all do well to look at what we've communicated as expectations within our own teams, the extent to which we have codified expectations with one an- HMCS Saskatoon. Photo: Canadian Armed Forces

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