The Defence Department is ready to make a pitch to cabinet for its approval to purchase $5 billion worth of new armoured vehicles.
The proposal comes about six months later than planned, and two months after the head of the army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, warned that many of the army's vehicles had been worn out or destroyed by the Afghan war.
The Defence Department has been working on the proposal since last fall and is hoping to get the OK on the projects before Parliament breaks for the summer.
The plan proposes the purchase of what is being called a close-combat vehicle, which would be used to accompany the army's Leopard 2 tanks. The proposal also calls for the purchase of a new armoured tactical patrol vehicle and an upgrade of the existing LAV-3 armoured vehicle fleet.
The package would be bundled together with the Conservatives being asked to approve all three at once.
Late last year, Leslie said the purchase of the new vehicles could be used as part of the government's economic stimulus. In particular, the upgrades of the light armoured vehicles would be attractive to the Conservatives since that work would likely be done at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada facilities in London, Ont. and Edmonton.
The rest of the vehicle purchases would likely be from foreign firms, with industrial input from Canadian companies.
Some firms, such as DEW Engineering of Ottawa, have already joined forces with BAE Systems of Britain in anticipation of the close combat vehicle program.
Asked to comment on the armoured vehicle package, Jay Paxton, Defence Minister Peter MacKay's press secretary, said the minister's office does not discuss cabinet business.
At a recent Senate defence committee meeting, Leslie noted that the LAV-3 fleet had been depleted because of the wear and tear in Afghanistan.
Those comments before the committee echoed Leslie's views presented in his strategic assessment report, sent to the government last year and obtained by the Citizen. In that document, he warned that Canada's army was stretched almost to the breaking point and replacement equipment for Afghanistan had long been used up.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen