Smith: Successful Canadian defence procurement will require bold decision-makers

Ottawa Citizen

2 days ago

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With Canada poised to establish the Canadian Defence Procurement Agency (CDPA), a centralized, single‑agency structure headquartered under the authority of the newly appointed Secretary of State (Defence Procurement) Stephen Fuhr, we would do well to remember that people matter more than process.
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The CDPA will fail if it is run by the same risk-averse decision-makers previously charged with defence procurement. Success will require people who are sufficiently bold – unrelenting, uncompromising, unapologetic – to do the hard things that will enable the Canadian Armed Forces to rapidly prepare for 21st century conflict.
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Canada needs its own John Boyd.
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U.S. Col. John Boyd wasn't a four-star general or a high-level appointee. He was a fighter pilot and theorist, famously abrasive, often marginalized, but ultimately indispensable. He created the OODA loop (Observe–Orient–Decide–Act), revolutionizing military doctrine worldwide.
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He pioneered Energy-Maneuverability Theory, quantifying fighter jet design, enabling him and his band of misfits, the so-called 'Fighter Mafia,' to challenge design orthodoxy, ultimately leading to the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, one of the most successful and prolific jets in aviation history.
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Boyd's impact wasn't born of title. It came from being intellectually relentless and morally uncompromising. He didn't lobby for marginal improvements. He demanded paradigm shifts. And in doing so, he exposed inefficiencies, challenged entrenched interests, and catalyzed change from within one of the most rigid bureaucracies in the world: the Pentagon.
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Canadians can turn to our own history to find something of an analogue. Clarence Decatur Howe, an American by birth, known as the 'Minister of Everything,' is considered Canada's most influential industrialist. Tasked with rapidly mobilizing Canadian industry for war, he ultimately created 28 Crown Corporations, covering everything from shipbuilding to aircraft, rubber, and synthetic fuels.
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C.D. Howe is a giant of Canadian history, and for good reason. His ability to bypass slow, consensus-based systems in favour of speed, clarity, and operational outcomes is legendary.
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But unlike Boyd the insider, Howe was an outsider appointed to the role and vested with an incredible amount of authority, which he wielded unapologetically. Howe famously said: 'If it is expedient for the government to do something, then I think it is right.' This earned him admiration, but also the label of authoritarian.
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Howe and Boyd may have differed in status and power, but they were aligned in their focus, both prioritizing outcomes over popularity.
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At a time when Canada's defence procurement system is slow and fragmented, dominated by a risk-averse culture that delays capability while threats accelerate, Canada is once again in need of that same decisive energy.
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Recognizing this crisis of speed and coherence, the Carney government has announced the planned creation of the CDPA. Consolidating powers previously split among multiple departments, the CDPA is intended to streamline decision‑making, reduce duplicative bureaucracy, and accelerate contract execution.
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The establishment of the CDPA will serve as a litmus test. Is Canada's procurement failure rooted in flawed policy, or in a bureaucratic culture unwilling to embrace risk? A new mandate alone will not transform the system if those executing it remain tethered to the same institutional caution. True reform will require individuals willing to challenge orthodoxy even when it carries political cost, those who will reject legacy processes and bloated vendor ecosystems in favour of speed, survivability and sovereign capability.
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There are also legitimate concerns about centralizing defence procurement, particularly in a town like Ottawa that has failed time and again to rethink defence and procurement. But maybe this is the Canadian way. Perhaps Canada requires someone like an empowered Secretary of State Fuhr, a former fighter pilot himself, who acting like a Howe, can make room for the Boyds.
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With sufficient authority, Fuhr can do more than cut through red tape. He can cultivate the conditions for a culture of well-meaning risk taking to take root. Perhaps then the Canadian 'Drone Mafia' can emerge – a paradigm shifting band of misfits and believers who care more about equipping Canadian soldiers with emerging capabilities than they do about their reputations and promotions.
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Boyd said it best: 'You can be somebody, or you can do something.' Canada needs someone who will do something. Someone willing to be scorned in the committee room to deliver speed in the battlespace. Will we empower individuals willing to speak uncomfortable truths, break the mold, and act with urgency? Or will we fall back on process, defaulting once again to the slow death of incrementalism?
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