Canada: 40% percent of military contracts are “non-competitive

“No Bang for the Buck” report finds that forty percent of military contracts are “non-competitive”

(Ottawa) Federal spending on multi-billion dollar military contracts has been mired in complaints of improper conduct as the government embarks on its $17 billion build-up of aircraft, helicopters, warships and vehicles. A study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives called “No Bang for the Buck: Military contracting and public accountability” supports the frequently heard charges of unfair competitions. It found that the government itself has classified more than 40 percent of the nearly 20,000 National Defence contracts awarded in FY2006-07 as “non-competitive.”

Even more, the percentage of public dollars spent on “non-competitive” military contracts has doubled in the last two years, according to the study which examined thousands of federal contracts reported in the Business Access Canada’s publicly available Contract History database.“This report raises the alarm on the use of public dollars, and the need for greater transparency and federal accountability in military contracting,” said Bruce Campbell, Executive Director of the CCPA.

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