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To make matters worse, none of our political leaders has had the courage to step up and even acknowledge the mess we are in. Our leaders are hiding the truth from us, likely until the next election is complete.
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Quite rightly, they are concerned that Canadians would severely penalize them at the voting booths if the full extent of their mismanagement became public.
But this arrogance and disdain for the public should not go unpunished. Furthermore, we need to do what we can now to fix the problem.
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In a recent op-ed in this paper, I outlined how a distorted procurement process led to a ten-fold increase in costs, from $26 billion to $286 billion, for 15 Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships for the Royal Canadian Navy. There isan obvious follow-up question where were the red flags that should have alerted the government to these escalating costs? Allow me to suggest three fundamental failings and to recommend solutions.
First, our inability to ask the right question. Last year, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates requested that the Office of the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer (PBO) undertake a costing analysis to build the CSC. Unfortunately, it was not tasked to report on the costs to both build and to maintain the ships throughout their lifetime. Its report, tabled in Feb. 2021, identified acquisition costs of $77.3 billion but, as it was not requested to do so, made no estimate on the follow-on costs to operate and maintain th
Author of the article: Alan Williams
Publishing date: May 06, 2021 • 23 hours ago • 3 minute read • The centre block of the future HMCS Max Bernays is moved from the fabrication building to dockside at the Irving Shipbuilding facility in Halifax on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021.The vessel is Canada s third Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) being built for the Royal Canadian Navy. The vessel is named for Max Bernays, who fought in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Photo by Andrew Vaughan /The Canadian Press
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Canadians are quite rightly preoccupied with coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. It affects our safety and security. Nevertheless, there is another crisis slowly unfolding that, if not addressed, has the potential to do the same.
Williams: Under this plan, Canada s new warships will never be built ottawacitizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ottawacitizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.