In the latest turn in a fraught procurement process that seems to be as much of a headache for this government as it was for the last one, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced today that after months of jockeying by aviation interests over the contract to replace Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets, the Trudeau government is launching a new round of consultations on the issue with military allies and industry suppliers.

Sajjan says Canada isn’t currently able to meet both its NATO and NORAD commitments because of a capability gap with its aging CF-18s and that officials from his department and others are gearing up to meet with allies and aircraft manufacturers over the summer before making any decisions on a replacement aircraft.

Sajjan explained the plan Wednesday morning to a group of Canadian defence industry stakeholders who gathered to take part in the final roundtable in the consultations on the government’s Defence Policy Review. In his remarks, which were open to the media, Sajjan stressed the Canadian Forces are having to “risk manage” their contributions to each military alliance but declined to say what kind of timeline he is considering — or whether an open competition is still the plan.

“We’re at the phase of getting enough information,” Sajjan said when asked specifically by a reporter during the earlier media availability whether he still planned to hold an open competition. “No decision has been made on procurement.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to scrap the controversial sole-sourced F-35 fighter jet project and instead hold an open competition to select which jet would best fit Canada’s needs.

However, reports last month suggested the government was also considering an interim sole-sourced contract with Boeing for its FA-18 Super Hornet jets, upgraded versions of the jets Canada currently operates.

While the government did not confirm the report, Sajjan and parliamentary secretary John MacKay did stress in the House of Commons repeatedly that Canada is facing a looming capability gap with its aging jets.

Boeing has been campaigning hard behind the scenes for months to position itself as a contender to Lockheed Martin, the firm building the F-35.

Under the government’s new plan to consult with “all interested aircraft suppliers,” officials from the Department of National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development will gather information they say is needed before making a decision.

Specifically, the team will look for information on aircraft capabilities, readiness, availability, whether it is compatible with Canadian infrastructure, acquisition costs, maintenance, life-cycle costs and economic benefits.

As well, the team will also meet with allies to get their perspectives on lessons learned and their experiences with various aircraft options.

James Bezan, the Conservative defence critic, said Wednesday he views the renewed consultations as “just another delay tactic” and that he is concerned about the minister’s reluctance to renew his commitment to holding an open competition.

“We as the opposition are very concerned that they’re going to replace a competition with consultation,” he said.

The former Conservative government did not hold a competition before announcing its intent to buy the F-35s in 2010.

Bezan said Sajjan is simply repeating work already done by the Conservatives as part of their decision making process by continuing to hold more consultations before making a decision.

“We had actually done and formed an expert panel,” he said. “This work Minister Sajjan is doing has already been done through the expert panel. All he has to do it update.”

The first formal consultations will take place next week when the team heads to the Farnborough Airshow near London, England.

Once the consultations are complete, Sajjan says the government will make a decision “as soon as possible.”