New game plan on Canadian Surface Combatant
program begin mulled
Government
moves to get
a grip of
CSC program
c
csc
32 JUNE/JULY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com
by nestor arellano
w
ith Canada's largest fleet
replacement program
since World War II be-
coming more problem-
atic than earlier expect-
ed, the newly installed Liberal government
appears to be scrambling to control a key
component of the troubled National Ship-
building Procurement Strategy (NSPS).
The government's concern over the
Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) pro-
gram was highlighted recently when Min-
ister of Public Service and Procurement
Judy Foote announced to an audience
of defence industry company executives
during the Cansec 2016 conference that
she was keeping putting a lid on program
costs estimates in order to put an end to
bothersome speculations and rumours.
"We will not be announcing a new cost
estimate for the Canadian Surface Combat-
ant until we have signed a build contract,"
the minister said. "Given the number of
variables that can change and the very long
planning periods involved, we have seen
how these estimates cause confusion."
The agreement to build the warships is
not expected to be signed until 2019.
But more importantly, Foote said she is
taking steps to revamp procurement pro-
cedures to cut delivery backlogs.
"We have seen how these estimates
cause confusion. We will be developing
procedures to ensure that accurate and
timely costing information is provided to
Canadians," said Foote.
"we will not be
announcing a new
cost estimate for
the canadian surface
combatant until we
have signed a build
contract."
— minister of public service
and procurement Judy Foote
