Yes, there were several cases where the contracting process caused some problems. In one instance, DND wanted to award the contract to a sole source supplier. However, PWGSC demanded that the contract be put out to tender. After all of the work had been done, the contract was ultimately awarded to the first supplier, in part because of delivery lead times. The other suppliers were unable to meet the delivery deadlines. The request for proposal failed to make it sufficiently clear that the deadline was such a critical factor. It wasn't until the end of the process that the other suppliers realized that they would not be able to meet the deadlines.
We feel that PWGSC and DND wasted time. The requirements in terms of delivery deadlines should have been clearer from the outset.
Aside from that, the outcome in the case of the two contracts that were put out to tender was relatively positive. In the case of another contract, one that has been delayed, DND failed to provide the Treasury Board Secretariat with all of the information concerning the scope of the project when the initial request for funding was made. The cost for the vehicles alone was about $55 million and the total cost of the project was about double that amount.