Canada halts truck acquisition

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OTTAWA, July 23 (UPI) -- The Canadian government has reportedly stopped a military project to purchase 1,500 trucks in a dispute over acquisition costs.

The Ottawa Citizen newspaper, quoting government and military sources, said the move is the result of more than $300 million being added to estimated acquisition costs without government approval.

The extra costs resulted from the department and the armed forces adding capabilities they wanted to the off-the-shelf vehicles to be purchased without going back to the Treasury Board for approval.

Bidding for the contract to furnish the trucks was shut down last week just before it was to begin when the unapproved costs were discovered, the newspaper reported, and the program is to be re-evaluated.

"We anticipate doing a focused re-evaluation of the Canadian army's purchase for trucks and ensuring we move quickly to acquire the right equipment at the best value for taxpayers," the Department of National Defense was quoted as saying.