Companies caught off guard by decision to cancel military truck deal
July 12, 2012 - 4:38 PM
OTTAWA - Companies looking to take advantage of a multimillion-dollar federal contract to replace aging Canadian Forces trucks say they were blindsided when the Conservative government abruptly decided to call a halt to the program.
Defence industry sources say they had no idea Ottawa was going to cancel a request for proposals minutes before the deadline — after companies had already spent big money making their pitches.
Companies had until 2 p.m. ET Wednesday to bid on a contract for 1,500 new medium-sized logistics trucks for the Canadian Forces.
But Public Works emailed bidders three minutes before the deadline to let them know the contract has been cancelled.
The government planned to buy 1,500 logistics trucks and 800 commercial vehicles adapted for military use, along with equipment to go with them, at a total cost of $1.2 billion.
The new Standard Military Pattern Vehicles were to replace the current fleet, which has been in use since the 1980s and is nearing the end of its service life.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012