My Honor’s Thesis was right!!

A few of my Honor's Thesis policy recommendations made it into the real world today!!  DND is basically following the second, third and forth recommendations that I laid out in my honors thesis although I really doubt anyone at DND has actually read my thesis because it wasn't published and they are pretty common sense ideas anyway.  But yay!!  It means I was right to recommend them in my thesis! 

If you're curious I recommended that DND and the government;

1) Define what an effective procurement policy means to each stakeholder.

2) Strategically plan long-term procurement goals for long-lead items like ships and airplanes.

3) Create procurement policies that target and support a few specific industries (like shipbuilding and aerospace) that the government deems to be strategically and economically important (as opposed to supporting every defence industry like the US does because we're just too small a market to do that effectively). 

4) Ensure there is long-term sustained demand for the industry so it doesn’t die off (30 years should be good). 

5) If an industry can't be or won’t be sustained, favour schemes like industry partnerships and licensed production to maximize industrial benefits to Canadian business when we do buy things from that industry.

The press caption is as follows but you can find a more in-depth press release here: The Department of National Defence and the Government of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy

"June 3, 2010 - Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario

The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy was announced by the Government of Canada the CANSEC/CADSI tradeshow the morning of June 3. The 30-year plan will invest tens of billions of dollars in federal fleet renewal for Canada's Navy and Coast Guard, ensuring effective maritime security and service, while boosting domestic industry. The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy commits to building and repairing these new ships in Canadian shipyards, and will ensure continued operations in Canadian, Arctic, and international waters. By creating a reliable shipbuilding relationship between the federal government and the marine industry, this long-term strategy will see the creation of new jobs, improved technology, and increased competition to sustain Canada's sovereignty and prosperity."

- DND website.