I'm not sure where to start, Ms. Faille, but let me just say this. When I was a logistics officers with the Canadian Forces, I gained some experience in the field of public acquisitions. Since then, I've noticed that the problem stems from the fact that there are too many controls and too many parties in control. We have two departments and each one has a responsibility and a strong desire to acquire the very best for our military. I have no doubts whatsoever about that. However, instead of working together, they operate in a more linear manner.
DND has a public acquisitions unit that is a very bureaucratic organization. Once it has done its work in minute detail, everything gets passed along to PWGSC which is an even more bureaucratic organization. Therefore, it can take 20 years to purchase a vessel and the cost can be prohibitive. When a new danger looms on the horizon and our military must respond to it, the Chief of Defence, the Prime Minister or the officials responsible for supplying our military in combat operations must take extraordinary measures. They say: we want it, and we want it now. The reality is that when it comes to public acquisitions processes, DND and PWGSC are incapable of responding.
What should we make of all of this? The process is likely far more costly. Over the years, we have probably added some layers to make the system run more smoothly and to prevent abuse, fraud or error. And what has that accomplished? We're in a fine mess.
I would recommend, quite simply, that we revert to the arrangement that we once had, that is that we give the Minister of National Defence, who is ultimately responsible for defending our country's security and for motivating our military to engage in combat, the needed tools—in this case, a public acquisitions agency or, as I call it, a supply agency. We already had that in the past. When I served in the Canadian Forces in 1960, we had an agency just like that. PWGSC could then oversee the purchase of office equipment and supplies that are not specifically military in nature.
I don't think I'm alone in calling for such an agency. In terms of configuring and reconfiguring our military, I would start with this step, that is with deciding what we are going to do.