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Taxpayers are on the hook for potentially tens of millions of dollars after federal bureaucrats bungled the purchase of trucks for the Canadian Forces and now must make good on the lost profits for a U.S. firm.

But Public Services and Procurement Canada, which oversaw the flawed defence procurement, has declined to provide details on just how much the penalties will cost the public.

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Defence industry representatives, however, say the penalty being paid to the U.S. company, Oshkosh, could be as high as $60 million as it has to account for lost profit on the $834-million contract as well as other expenses the firm incurred.

The case dates back to 2016 when the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) ruled that the process, which awarded the truck contact to Mack Defense of the U.S., was flawed. The CITT supported the concerns of Mack’s rival, Oshkosh, that there were significant issues with the evaluation of the vehicles. As a result, the tribunal called on Public Services and Procurement Canada to conduct a new evaluation of the trucks being purchased for the Canadian Forces.