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But some Department of National Defence officials warned years ago that the single contract strategy could give one firm too much control and end up being more costly. “A single ISS provider may assume a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude at the time of contract option renewal, forcing prices up,” warned an April 2012 DND briefing note for then-deputy minister Robert Fonberg.

A dispute with the contractor could also force the Royal Canadian Navy to resort to conducting maintenance and support for the ships on a piecemeal basis, a development that would affect its operations, added the briefing obtained by Postmedia.

DND also warned that not all companies would be happy with such a strategy as it would take a significant amount of business out of competition for a long time. Other DND officials, however, argued that the single contract strategy would work and any risks could be handled by increasing the level of oversight on the deal.

Some analysts, such as Alan Williams, the former head of procurement for the DND, have recently warned that the federal government has taken too much of back seat role when it comes to the multi-billion dollar naval projects now underway.

Williams pointed to the Canadian Surface Combatant program that will be run by Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast. Irving, not the government, will select the winning bid for that project, valued at more than $26 billion. Federal officials will observe the process and then sign off on Irving’s selection of that new fleet of warships.