Major defence procurements are supposed to get the Canadian Armed Forces the right gear quickly while yielding domestic work and goods sales, but there’s no system for weighing those priorities, the federal procurement ombudsman found in a newly released report. (The Logic)

Talking point: The government entities involved often disagree about how to manage competing demands, especially when the Innovation Department isn’t consulted until late in the process but has economic-benefits demands, procurement ombud Alexander Jeglic reported. Big procurements also go through painful reviews by the Treasury Board (which has “an overactive challenge function”) and can be handled throughout by people who lack key expertise, Jeglic found. Without correction, these long-standing problems will get in the way of revitalizing and re-equipping the military while meeting national defence spending targets, the report said.