Here's your new and improved Harper Defence procurement system

In action.

The multibillion-dollar plan to buy new armoured vehicles for the military, which the federal government launched with much fanfare last year, has already run into a roadblock, with every vehicle offered now being rejected by Public Works and the Defence Department.

Ugly. Especially for those who might have to take a ride in one.

It's not the first time such problems have surfaced. In 2009, the Defence Department's own auditor warned about the lack of senior management experience on equipment programs. The auditor's report also contained details about the lack of training among equipment project leaders, as well as a large number of vacancies in the staff needed to run the programs.

But the Defence Department has long insisted it has the problem under control.

In a 2008 email to the Ottawa Citizen, the Defence Department stated it had a training program to improve the skills of procurement officers and had created a pool of procurement specialists who were available to work on various equipment projects.

In all fairness, this goes back a long way, including the fact that under the Chretien government defence procurement was so unproductive that we lost a lot of skill. Couple that with a hemorrhage of our very best people during a period of downsizing and there was little to call on.

But, Peter MacKay was supposed to fix all that. Right?

The CCV project has already run into problems. Earlier this year, industry was informed that the project was being put on hold while it was being re-evaluated. It was later restarted.

Methinks the defence minister should spend less time dressing up and a whole lot more time concentrating on his job.

But then... I'm one of those ugly breathing veterans. They hit me but they didn't kill me. Sorry about that. Hope the wound stripe didn't set you back too much.