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On October 2, Prime Minister Carney announced the creation of the Defence Investment Agency (DIA).
Unfortunately, the announcement provided no particulars, leaving questions as to how this newest bureaucratic layer in federal defence procurement will operate.
What we know so far
The DIA will be led by Chief Executive Officer Doug Guzman, and overseen by the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement).
As with the previously announced Defence Procurement Agency, the DIA will be located in the Department of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).
According to the agency's website, the DIA will provide input on all procurements related to defence, security, and the Coast Guard at any part of the procurement process.
The agency has a nifty acronym (FASTER) to describe its mandate: Flexible, Agile, Strategic, Trusted, Export-enabling, and Resilient, and has identified four key goals:
- consolidate procurement processes
- tie procurement to domestic industrial benefits
- engage Canadian Armed Forces and Canada's defence industry
- align with international partners
What we don't know (which is a lot)
It remains unclear how this new agency housed within PSPC will substantially change the defence procurement process.
As noted in our recent bulletin, "Something Old, Something New, and Uncharted Waters – the Defence Procurement Agency, a New Secretary of State (Defence Procurement) and Moving the Canadian Coast Guard under the Department of National Defence" , PSPC already has defence-specific procurement teams with expertise in defence acquisitions. Moving them to a new agency may have little impact absent more substantive changes to the way Canada procures its defence supplies.
Since the Minister of PSPC does not "oversee" all other departments involved in defence procurement (DND, ISED, ISC, TBS, etc.) nor does the Minister have authority to make any decisions in the ordinary course on behalf of these departments, it would appear that the various interdepartmental interactions, meetings, committees and task allocations will remain solidly in place.
Further, as we considered in our previous bulletin, many of the procurement policies and processes that are often blamed for delays are necessary for assuring accountability, oversight, and probity. The Prime Minister's announcement highlights that under the new agency, procurements will advance FASTER, but it is unclear whether a consolidation of procurement processes will mean that defence procurement will be exempt from the traditional procurement policies and procedures.
Read the full Defence Investment Agency announcement here: Prime Minister Carney launches new Defence Investment Agency to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces faster.
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