We want our government to ensure that tax dollars spent on our military infrastructure and hardware are allocated in a manner that follows established rules of tender and bidding, guaranteeing both that our troops have the quality tools to function with a maximum degree of safety and that the financial costs reflect the best price available for these tools.
Did You Know?
That successive Canadian governments have dramatically increased the military budget over the past decade. According to 2008-2009 National Defence Department budgets, spending increased by 9.6% over the previous year, and has been dramatically increasing since the 1998-99 fiscal year – an increase of 56% from 1998-99 to 2008-2009 (Bill Robinson, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Dec. 2009). While we recognize that this is to some degree due to an increase in international conflict and Canada’s presence on a number of fronts, greater transparency in our decision-making and expenditures is important given these increases.
Recently, the Canadian government announced one of the single most expensive military contracts in our history – a new generation of 65 F-35 fighter jets at an initial minimum cost of 9 billions dollars. However, American arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin received the contract without any competing firms being allowed to bid (cbcnews.ca, July 16, 2010). Considering the huge costs of this purchase, announcing this sole-source contract in July (while Parliament is not in session) with no alternative bidders lacks accountability. Full disclosure and rigorous bidding processes are needed to ensure both transparency and financial prudence.
Recently, the Canadian government announced one of the single most expensive military contracts in our history – a new generation of 65 F-35 fighter jets at an initial minimum cost of 9 billions dollars. However, American arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin received the contract without any competing firms being allowed to bid (cbcnews.ca, July 16, 2010). Considering the huge costs of this purchase, announcing this sole-source contract in July (while Parliament is not in session) with no alternative bidders lacks accountability. Full disclosure and rigorous bidding processes are needed to ensure both transparency and financial prudence.
