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To respond to ongoing and future requirements, the Canadian Forces are transforming and modernizing their maritime, land, air, and special operations forces to meet the challenges of the 21st century. To this end a comprehensive investment plan is being written to implement the CFDS. This plan will define resource allocation plans for equipment, personnel, infrastructure and other essential contributions necessary for the fielding of new equipment and capabilities over the next ten years.

In addition, the formulation of the investment plan is being greatly influenced by the introduction of Capability Based Planning within DND. The Department is currently completing a comprehensive comparison of current force structures and capabilities against the identified needs of the future in order to produce a new strategic capability roadmap. The roadmap will describe a range of capability alternatives and options to address any identified gaps. The alternatives and choices provided in the roadmap are expected to help decision makers to determine what the CF will need to meet the challenges of the evolving security environment. Once agreed, these capability choices will be further articulated and funded in the investment plan. The new roadmap is expected to be ready by mid to late 2008.

This recommendation was accepted and its implementation is completed.

While the Defence Investment Plan was advancing within the Department's internal governance process at the end of the fiscal year, it was approved by Treasury Board on 11 June 2009. This document provides a ten year view of defence investment. This key reference document is used to guide defence planning and internally manage programme resource allocation.

A capability based planning process (CBP) has been adopted by Defence. As part of the CBP, a first version of the strategic capability roadmap was completed in mid-2008. This roadmap was a decision support tool for production of the Investment Plan (IP). A cyclical process of revision and updating of the roadmap and investment plan is being adopted.

The Government notes that the Committee has made this recommendation twice before, but remains of the view that its current reporting to Parliament on defence programs, operations and services, including its provision of information on major crown projects, is fully adequate. In the vast majority of cases, information on these projects is provided to Parliament, and is therefore available to the Committee, well before the contracting stage. To inform Parliament, the Government relies on reporting mechanisms already in place such as the tabling of Main Estimates and Reports on Priorities and Planning, in which the details of major crown projects are provided. At the request of committees, the Minister of National Defence, other Ministers and senior officials appear before Parliament to explain major crown projects proposed by the Department of National Defence.

The release of the CFDS will provide Parliament and Canadians with further insight into the Government's plans. The Government reiterates its commitment to have Ministers and officials appear to discuss all procurement projects of interest to the Committee, and we will continue to cooperate with Parliament in its oversight of defence procurement.

The Government continues to make improvements to defence procurement policies and processes, and appreciates the Committee's acknowledgement of the successes to date. We can and will do more to simplify and shorten processes while maintaining appropriate safeguards and controls to ensure that Canadians obtain best value from defence spending, and that defence acquisitions are done with as much transparency as possible and subject to adequate checks and balances.

The Committee has correctly assessed that the concept proposed by some to fundamentally restructure the present relationship between DND and PWGSC and create a defence procurement agency is a very complex issue with significant risks on both sides of the argument.

Significant progress has been achieved in the last two years, through collaborative effort on the part of the departments and agencies involved, to reduce the timelines to procure military equipment. In the past, it has taken an average of nine years from the identification of need to contract award. The Government is well on its way to reducing the average time it takes to reach contract award to less than four years, and is committed to continuously improve the efficiency of military procurement.

As noted in the Government's response to Recommendation 2, we are fully committed to open and transparent processes for both competitive and non-competitive procurements.

The Government agrees with the recommendation to purchase mature "off the shelf" solutions wherever appropriate and continues to follow this approach whenever possible. (Full response available online)

• Minimization of technical specifications;
• Realignment of scarce resources into two major project divisions to oversee key transformation projects. These divisions act as centres of expertise providing focused, highly-skilled personnel, capable of managing complex acquisitions;
• Use of high-level, performance driven military specifications whenever possible;
• Assessment of proposals based upon best overall value; and
• Establishment of long term, domestic-based, in-service support contracts in conjunction with system acquisitions, with a single entity being accountable for system performance and availability.

The Government already provides as much information as it can concerning the selection of contractors to meet both defence and non-defence requirements. The Committee will understand that the Government is significantly constrained in its ability to publicly release details of contractors' bids and the analysis of those bids by officials, as the bid documents and their contents are proprietary to the bidders. PWGSC manages the bidding process and is responsible to ensure that solicitation documents clearly describe the bid evaluation process and all selection criteria, including terms and conditions, Industrial Regional Benefits, operational requirements and technical requirements. Non-successful bidders are offered the opportunity to meet with PWGSC and DND representatives to review the evaluation of their bids and gain an understanding of how they were rated and why. They are also advised of the independent redress mechanisms available to them if they feel that the bid process was flawed or unfair. The Government views this system, which has been in place for many years, as providing the best combination of transparency of process and protection of bidders' proprietary information or third-party confidential information.

The Department of Public Works and Government Services Act was amended in May 2008 to create the position of Procurement Ombudsman to ensure greater fairness, openness and transparency in procurement. (Full response available online).

The Government agrees with this recommendation and is pursuing discussions with the US to this end.

The United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), administered by the State Department, regulates the export of militarily sensitive defence articles and services from the United States. For decades, Canada has enjoyed special status as the only country with specific exemptions under these regulations. However, as discussed in the Committee's Report, following the events of 9/11 ITAR provisions were applied more stringently to remaining licensable export authorizations, especially as regards restrictions on dual-nationality provisions. In practice, this has meant that Canadian citizens born or with nationality from one of about twenty-four proscribed countries were generally denied access to ITAR controlled goods or information. This dual-nationality restriction is inconsistent with the application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The priority of the Government of Canada is to continue discussion with the Department of State in order to find comparable long-term solutions for other federal government departments with similar requirements and Canadian industry. The Committee will understand that the issue is complex and will likely take some time to fully resolve to the satisfaction of the Government and Canadians. (Full response available online)

The Government acknowledges the concerns raised regarding "single point accountability contracting" and appreciates the Committee's support for taking the time to properly gauge the potential impacts. We will continue to evaluate all of our procurement strategies to ensure that they remain relevant to current national and international conditions, and deliver the best outcomes for the country.

The "single point accountability" or "total solution" procurement strategy has been adopted in certain acquisitions to address both the reality of a global trend towards tighter control by rights owners over the transfer and use of their Intellectual Property, and a number of cases where the separation of equipment acquisition and in-service support contracts has created costly and difficult problems for the Department of National Defence. In some instances these have affected Canadian Forces operations.

The Government will continue to leverage long-term, high quality work opportunities for Canadian industry through industrial and regional benefits (IRBs). The IRBs associated with these in-service support contracts will provide opportunities for Canadian industry to participate on major defence procurements for at least the next twenty years. This will assist in ensuring the long-term viability of the Canadian industry's in-service support capability.

DND currently runs an end of tour Third Location Decompression program to provide personnel with an opportunity to achieve a sense of closure to the mission and to prepare them for their return home. Building on pre-deployment briefings, this program increases awareness of operational stress injuries and provides information on what type of help is available. However, five years of research, literature reviews and experience in the area of deployment health indicate that there is no evidence in the scientific literature to suggest that a decompression program decreases the probability of developing, or increases the chance of recovering from, an operational stress injury. National Defence is continuing to evaluate the benefits of the end of tour Third Location Decompression program.

Equally, there is no evidence that a program to prepare soldiers for mid-tour leave would have any significant impact on their chances of developing, or recovering from, an operational stress injury. Moreover, instituting a mid-tour decompression program would create logistical and operational concerns. Currently, the CF aim to have personnel going on mid-tour leave spend a minimum of one day at an intermediate staging base located in Southwest Asia before starting their leave to allow soldiers a period of adjustment from the high operational tempo and stress in a secure environment. Health services and personnel support are available during this time if soldiers require assistance before their departure. As soldiers on a six month tour receive 18 days of mid-tour leave, the Government believes this short break offers soldiers accessible support if needed without unnecessarily reducing the time spent with their friends and families.

DND continues to conduct an end of tour Third Location Decompression (TLD) program to provide personnel with an opportunity to achieve a sense of closure to the mission and prepare them for their return home as an integral component of the re-integration process. While it remains that there is no evidence in the scientific literature to suggest that a decompression program decreases the probability of developing, or increases the chance of recovering from, an operational stress injury; there is sufficient evidence to suggest that TLD is well received by CF members and that the vast majority feel the program is warranted. Indeed, in surveys of 10,598 CF members that attended TLD thus far, 83% recommended the TLD for future rotations. In a follow up 4 - 6 months later on a subsample, 83% believed the TLD made reintegration easier for them, 71% felt it made them realize that there is nothing wrong with seeking help for a mental health problem, 67% felt it helped them readjust to a Canadian way of life and 67% felt it made reintegration easier for their family. As such, DND deems the program a valuable component of assisting CF members with re-integrating back to routine life, post deployment, and the Department continues to evaluate all elements of the program, and its merits on a recurring basis.

The commitment, with respect to mid tour leave, remains extant. The CF aim to have personnel going on mid-tour leave spend a minimum of one day at an intermediate staging base located in Southwest Asia before starting their leave. This allows soldiers a period of adjustment from the high operational tempo and stress in a secure environment. Health services and personnel support are available during this time if soldiers require assistance before their departure.

At the request of the Standing Committee on National Defence, senior military officials provided operational briefings on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan to the Committee on the following occasions:

9 March 2009: Brigadier-General Champagne, Director-General Operations, Strategic Joint Staff
12 June 2008: Brigadier-General Atkinson, Director-General Operations, Strategic Joint Staff
15 May 2008: Brigadier-General Atkinson, Director-General Operations, Strategic Joint Staff
10 April 2008: Brigadier-General Atkinson, Director-General Operations, Strategic Joint Staff

• Senior leadership of the Strategic Joint Staff remain ready to present to the Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN), and have done so a number of times. Appearances to end March 2009 were:
  • 2 March 2009
    RAdm Davidson - Director of Staff Strategic Joint Staff -
    Topic: Vancouver 2010
    Topic: CF Engagement in Afghanistan
  • 11 March 2009
    Cmdre Gardam - Director General Plans Strategic Joint Staff -
    Topic: Arctic & Climate Change

The Government recognizes the importance of increasing its contribution to Afghan National Army training; the conditions are now right for Canada to redouble its training and mentoring initiatives and to focus that effort on achieving results in Kandahar Province to reinforce our security, development and reconstruction achievements. Since 2006, Canada has fielded a large Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) in support of the 1st Kandak of the 205th Brigade based in Kandahar Province. With newly formed Kandaks arriving in Kandahar Province in July 2007, Canada augmented its contributions to ANA training by increasing the number of OMLTs to six and assigning them responsibility for three infantry Kandaks, a Combat Support Kandak, a Combat Service Support Kandak, and a Brigade Headquarters. These new OMLTs will be instrumental in raising the operational effectiveness of the recently arrived ANA units to measurable proficiency standards such that they can first participate in International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) missions in support of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, and in time, lead security operations.

The Canadian effort is fully consistent with recent calls by NATO for increased contributions to ANA capacity building, in particular through the provision of Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams. NATO has expressed its satisfaction with Canada's increased efforts in this respect.

Decisions regarding future levels of Canadian contributions to ANA training will be determined by the ANA's progress and capacity, CF operational requirements and assistance being provided by allies. (Full response available online)

The Government recognizes the importance of increasing its contribution to Afghan National Army training; the conditions are now right for Canada to redouble its training and mentoring initiatives and to focus that effort on achieving results in Kandahar Province to reinforce our security, development and reconstruction achievements. Since 2006, Canada has fielded a large Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) in support of the 1st Kandak of the 205th Brigade based in Kandahar Province. With newly formed Kandaks arriving in Kandahar Province in July 2007, Canada augmented its contributions to ANA training by increasing the number of OMLTs to six and assigning them responsibility for three infantry Kandaks, a Combat Support Kandak, a Combat Service Support Kandak, and a Brigade Headquarters. These OMLTs are instrumental in raising the operational effectiveness of the ANA units to measurable proficiency standards such that they can participate in International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) missions in support of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, and lead security operations.

The Canadian effort is fully consistent with recent calls by NATO for increased contributions to ANA capacity building, in particular through the provision of Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams. NATO has expressed its satisfaction with Canada's increased efforts in this respect.

Decisions regarding future levels of Canadian contributions to ANA training will be determined by the ANA's progress and capacity, CF operational requirements and assistance being provided by allies. In that respect, we are planning to add an OMLT in 2010 which will be assigned to a fourth infantry Kandak that is being formed to operate in Kandahar Province.

The CF Retention Strategy was approved by the Armed Forces Council in March 2009 and includes six lines of operations and 43 initiatives. The main lines of operations are Career/Employment Management, Career/Family Balance and Basic Training. Four of the initiatives have been implemented and the rest will be implemented over the next two years. The strategy is based on CF attrition research findings and is designed to address attrition issues and increase retention at two specific points. The first one is attrition occurring during the first year of service (YOS) and the second is attrition occurring at and after 20 YOS.

Female Attrition Rates for the CF Regular Force

The female attrition rates in fiscal year 2008-09 are lower then that for men. The male rates in 2008-09 were 6.9% for officers and 9.3% for Non-Commissioned Members (NCM). A study examining retention of women in navy occupations is being conducted.

The purpose of the Integrated Relocation Program (IRP) is to relocate CF personnel and their families in the most efficient fashion and at the most reasonable cost to the public while having a minimum detrimental effect on the employee and family, and on departmental operations.

During fiscal year 2008-09, the CF authorized the service provider, Royal Lepage Relocation Services (RLRS), to effect relocations for 15,500 personnel. Records indicate that the administration fees paid to RLRS for providing relocation services totalled just under $26.5 million, including GST. The summation of the flow through costs for reimbursements made to CF personnel for relocation benefits were slightly greater than $240 million.

The CF IRP policy manual that was completely re-written in fiscal year 2007-08 for the policy year 2008-09 was very successful. Further adjustments were made to the IRP provisions for FY 2009-10 with the goal of making the program more flexible and providing increased options to members. Surveys administered regarding the level of satisfaction CF members have with the program indicated that the majority of the people are satisfied with the program. Work is nearly complete on the preparation of the Request for Proposal to re-tender the relocation contract through PWGSC for effect 1 December 2009.