The Liberals introduced a bill Tuesday that supersedes the plan for the agency laid out in last spring’s economic update, when they wanted to carve the Defence Investment Agency (DIA) away from the regular federal procurement system but keep it within the federal bureaucracy. Making the DIA a Crown corporation will let it “engage in defence production, procurement, and investment activities,” the government said—not just act as a buying agency. (The Logic)

Talking point: In a technical briefing the government offered on condition that the participants not be identified, an official said that as a mere procurement agency, the DIA might buy marine sensors for the Canadian Armed Forces quickly. But as a Crown corporation with more legal independence, the agency could also invest in the broader production ecosystem and arrange technology exchanges with an ally as part of an export deal. It would still answer to Parliament through an associate minister of defence. 

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