Between Cohesion and Silos: Governance and Risk Management of the National Shipbuilding Strategy

Presented by the Centre on Governance

Summary:

A vast program launched in 2010, the National Shipbuilding Strategy aims to renew the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard (nearly 90 ships in total) while sustainably developing the country's maritime industry. With an envelope of more than $80 billion and spanning several years, the Strategy is one of the most significant initiatives in the history of the federal government in terms of asset acquisition (Office of the Auditor General of Canada, 2021). Despite the importance of these acquisition projects for national defence, the economy and the Canadian public administration, a preliminary review of the literature seems to show that the Strategy has until now been the subject of very few studies from a governance and risk management perspective. This study therefore aims to fill this gap by looking at the governance structure as well as the risk management methods and processes within these large-scale projects. More specifically, this study aims to provide a better understanding of the dynamics and relationships between the various stakeholders in terms of governance and risk management and how these organizational arrangements influence the decision-making process of these projects.

Invited Speaker:

Olivier Choinière is a regular professor in project management at the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) and a researcher affiliated with the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa. He holds a Ph.D. in public management from the University of Ottawa and a Master's degree in public administration from ÉNAP. Olivier has expertise and experience in project, change and risk management as well as in corporate governance. Prior to joining academia, Olivier worked as a consultant for public and private organizations in Canada and internationally, and held a senior management position in the federal government.

Moderator:

Eric Champagne, professor in the School of Political Studies and director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa.