The Auditor-General applauded the government's ability to quickly buy dozens of military trucks and vehicles for the war in Afghanistan, but pointed out that getting there was not always pretty.
Officials at National Defence failed on a number of occasions to properly explain their actions to the rest of the government. Regarding one major purchase, the total cost quickly doubled and the vehicle has yet to be delivered.
Still, Sheila Fraser said that there are lessons in the recent rounds of purchases to apply to future military procurements, namely in speeding up the process for "non-urgent acquisitions."
As part of its audit, Ms. Fraser looked at the purchases of: - 75 armoured patrol vehicles, worth $175-million; - 100 Leopard 2 tanks, worth $650-million; - 95 armoured heavy-support transport vehicles, worth $169-million, and - 33 light-armoured vehicles with remote weapon stations (LAV RWS), worth $118-million.
The first three purchases were relatively well-handled, according to the Auditor-General.
However, the LAV RWS purchase was botched, with the price doubling and the delivery delayed.
"The original project schedule stated that the vehicles would be ready for use in Afghanistan by February 2008," the report said, adding that the vehicles were not delivered as of this summer.
The project's cost has also doubled to $118-million, up from the initial estimate of $55-million. The Auditor-General blamed National Defence for failing to provide "all the relevant information" to the Treasury Board and the rest of the government as the cost ballooned.
"National Defence informed us that the original project plans were unrealistic and did not adequately consider how complex the project was," the report said.