Yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of National Defence David McGuinty unveiled the government’s plan to invest $9 billion in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) before the end of the 2025–26 fiscal year. It’s a commendable commitment, but is it one that can actually be realized?For those who may not be aware, the CAF and the Canadian government have a long and well-documented history of not being able to efficiently spend money allocated for our national defence. It might actually be one of our greatest military traditions.Even simple procurement of fairly mundane military items, such as pistols, for example, can take more than a decade, while our peer nations can do the same in under three years..When you start looking at major procurements such as aircraft, armoured vehicles and ships, the timeline can quickly become an intergenerational affair. This was the case for our Sea King helicopters, which were eventually replaced by the problem-plagued Cyclones — after 25 years.So while it’s all well and good for the prime minister to announce his government’s intention to “rebuild, rearm and reinvest” in the CAF, it would have been more prudent for him to announce a major audit and overhaul of the organization’s financial management and procurement systems first.Because he didn’t, yesterday’s CAF financial windfall reminds me of an old episode of The Simpsons titled Marge vs. the Monorail.In it, the town of Springfield unexpectedly receives $3 million, and the mayor calls a community meeting to decide what to do with it. As the regular characters are arguing, a smooth-talking con man called Lyle Lanley addresses the crowd, saying, “You know, a town with money’s a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it!”That’s the CAF, exactly..However, there is nothing stopping the prime minister from tackling some of the procurement problems facing the CAF while lining up this major investment — and he should.In my 2024 year-end column, How to make Canada’s military great again!, I spoke with serving members, National Defence employees, defence industry experts and veterans on how to revitalize the CAF. One of the major topics covered was procurement..THOMSON: How to make Canada's military great again!.“At present, much of the trouble we have with our procurement has to do with the dollar thresholds assigned to various levels of procurement, and onerous review by multiple agencies such as the involvement of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the Independent Review Panel for Defence Acquisition (IRPDA)..Expecting at the time a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre, I suggested his government should do two things:Increase DND’s contract authority from $5 million to $100 million to match the minister of national defence’s expenditure initiation authority (EIA.) This would speed up procurement and get equipment into our troops’ hands when they need it.Change the minor capital project threshold from $10 million to $100 million. This was to prevent bureaucratic delays and avoid the constraints imposed by public works procurement guidelines, which limit the CAF’s flexibility and options.”I would make the same recommendations today, to Prime Minister Carney and his team and encourage them to act on them.Because ultimately, their plan is not a bad one, and although it’s expensive, it’s a justifiable expenditure and we should all want to see the CAF funded and equipped properly.But as I stated at the beginning, the question is: can we? Time will tell.
