Breaking New Ground—Stories from Defence Construction Breaking_new_ground | Page 100

or obstructive. Instead, it moved forward with positioning to operate on a
full fee-for-service basis. There were risks associated with this decision that
caused serious concern for some, but management was confident that the
solid relationship with the CF/DND, the demonstrable value of the cost and
quality of services and the expertise and experience of DCC staff could not
be bettered by any of the “competition.” Time would tell.
The idea of competition between DCC and PWGSC, or even with DND, was
current at this time, however, as the 1996–97 Annual Report explained:
“ It should be noted that, as a Crown corporation, DCC does not ‘compete’ in
the strictest sense of that word, with either the private sector or with other
federal government organizations. That is, it does not engage in bidding or
any contracting or contract management work that is being offered by DND
to a number of proponents. DCC continues to do only that work that is
exclusively given to it by the Department. Being ‘competitive’ therefore,
means that the Corporation attends to the cost and quality of its service
provision in such a way as to ensure that, when the client makes comparisons
among its options, DCC remains an attractive choice.”
Ross Nicholls, appointed DCC’s fourth
President in 1996, held a variety of
engineering and management positions
throughout his 30-year career. During his
13 years as President until his retirement
in 2009, the organization grew from a staff
of 200 to 750 and its revenue reached
$70 million.
Several important steps were taken to cement the DCC-DND relationship
while the big picture debate was ongoing. In 1995, a Memorandum of
Understanding between DND and DCC was signed defining the terms
under which DCC would provide project management services for environ-
mental projects. The most significant outcome of this agreement was the
establishment of an office to manage the DEW Line Cleanup project. DCC
provided the project management and environmental resources and, for a
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BREAKING NEW GROUND
DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA