Ottawa, 27 October 2016 – Christyn Cianfarani, President of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), today issued the following statement:

CADSI, as the national voice of the defence and security industries, compliments the government for its engagement and consultation with the defence industry in developing the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC). Getting the procurement strategy right on the CSC—the largest defence procurement in Canadian history—is vital to the future of the Canadian defence industrial base.

There are world leading technologies developed in Canada that can and should be incorporated into the winning bid as well as potential new areas of design that should be incented to be undertaken in Canada.

The Value Proposition is one the most powerful instruments the government has to achieve these objectives; and the 25 per cent weighting is a step in the right direction. We will only know whether or not the RFP did its job when the bids are received and evaluated. Every parliamentarian should be keeping a close eye on the outcome.   

CADSI encourages the government to evaluate the competing bids very carefully to ensure the winning bid maximizes long term, high value economic activity in Canada; incorporates most world leading Canadian expertise with export potential; helps Canadian defence companies develop the next generation of technologies to support military requirements. 

About CADSI

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is the national industry voice of more than 800 Canadian defence and security companies that produce world-class goods, services and technologies made across Canada and sought the world over. The industries contributes to the employment of more than 63,000 Canadians and generate $10 billion in annual revenues, roughly 60 per cent of which come from exports. To learn more, visit www.defenceandsecurity.ca and follow us on Twitter at @CadsiCanada.

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