‘Disgraceful and indefensible’: feds’ failure to release new Defence Industrial Strategy by deadline sparks backlash
The government’s failure to meet its promised deadline for releasing its first Defence Industrial Strategy has drawn sharp criticism from defence experts, who warn it undermines industry confidence and damages Canada’s credibility with allies. Observers say the long-awaited strategy is crucial to fixing chronic procurement delays, guiding industry investment, and anchoring new reforms like the Defence Investment Agency, though the government has not explained the delay or provided a new timeline. “If you want to get procurement right, you first of all have to publish a long-term capital plan that is cabinet approved so that everybody knows what we’re going to need to buy in the future, and so that industry can best position itself to bid on those things. Then you have to have a structure in place with one minister accountable to deliver. Then you have to have performance measures,” Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister of materiel at DND, said. “That’s not rocket science, and we haven’t had—and don’t have—any of those things.”
