Canada cancels plan to donate refurbished armour to Ukraine: defence minister

A contract to supply Ukraine with refurbished light armoured vehicles is officially dead, the defence minister told a House of Commons committee on Tuesday.

The Department of National Defence gave 25 decommissioned troop carriers to Armatec Survivability in Dorchester, Ont., located outside of London, almost two years ago, to be rebuilt.  

The now-defunct project was driven by the defence department as Canada struggled to find weapons and equipment to Ukraine to help repel Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a Crown corporation that brokers defence contracts, was given the task of negotiating the details of the contract, which was estimated to be worth up to $250 million. The plan was listed in the federal agency’s quarterly report until this summer when it was mysteriously dropped. 

Until Tuesday, neither the defence department, nor CCC would say precisely what the status of the contract might be.    

“There is a decision that’s been taken to nullify the contract with that company presently,” Defence Minister David McGuinty told the Commons defence committee in response to questions from the Opposition Conservatives.

“I can’t go any further in terms of discussing the merits. We’ll see how that evolves in terms of relationship to the department and contractor.”

In response to previous questions about the Armatec deal, CCC refused to answer because of “commercial confidentiality obligations.” 

McGuinty, speaking before the committee on Tuesday, refused to outline the reasons for the cancellation.

“I wish I could give you more insight into the reasoning behind the department’s… decision to cancel the contract, but I’m not in a position to do so,” McGuinty testified.

Conservative defence critic James Bezan said the government was walking away from the deal when Ukraine desperately needs armoured vehicles to replace its battlefield losses.

McGuinty, in response, noted that Canada has supplied Ukraine with brand-new armoured combat support vehicles and continues to do so. 

The original plan, however, was for Canada to provide both new and rebuilt troop carriers. It was announced two years ago by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau around the time of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Ottawa.

It’s unclear if the federal government is seeking recovery of the vehicles it wanted refurbished.

Armatec has built a demonstration vehicle for the Ukraine project that features an improved cannon and a remote weapons station that helps to protect the crew.

The company’s promotional materials say it uses a revolutionary — but proven — restoration process.