The federal government is using a legal measure usually reserved for terrorism cases to prevent lawyers from examining documents on the controversial $70-billion project to build a new fleet of warships for the Royal Canada Navy.
Lawyers for Navantia, Spain’s state-owned shipbuilding company, are being blocked not only from examining records related to the Canadian Surface Combatant project, but also from obtaining information about the type of documents the federal government has in its possession.
Section 38 is commonly used for terrorism offences and to protect classified information from national security agencies such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. It can also be used in situations involving war crimes, passport or citizenship forgery offences under the Criminal Code or sensitive security issues.
But the records being sought could have the potential to reinforce Navantia’s allegation of a rigged procurement process, rather than spill military secrets. The company’s lawyers are trying to get government records outlining why federal procurement officials changed requirements on the speed of the new warships as well as documents explaining the Liberal government’s sudden reversal of its policy to accept only mature designs for the winning CSC bid. The Type 26 ship that Canada wants to acquire didn’t exist when it was selected by Irving and the federal government in 2018. The first vessel is still under construction.
No comments:
Post a Comment