Defence Department Brushed Aside ‘Bad Optics’ Of American Contracts

Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) brushed aside concerns about a pair of controversial contracts with an American company as little more than a question of bad “optics,” records obtained by The Maple show.

As reported by The Maple in July 2025, DND announced it was awarding two contracts worth $169 million to American defence company CACI for new counter drone systems.

Eight months prior, a federal jury in the United States found that one of CACI’s subsidiaries shared responsibility with the U.S. Army for abusing Iraqi detainees at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004.

Before the deals were announced, a Canadian official raised questions about whether or not CACI should be awarded the contracts, documents newly obtained through an access to information request reveal. But the concerns primarily centred around fears of negative publicity.

In May, Col. Chris Poole, director of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) armament sustainment program, emailed Eric German, senior director of Public Services and Procurement Canada’s munitions and tactical systems procurement directorate.

Poole noted that CACI “has been found legally responsible in a US federal lawsuit for abuse suffered at US military’s Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.”

He then listed a series of questions, including whether or not the ruling was legal grounds for DND not to award the contracts to CACI.

Poole wrote: “One of my concerns is negative publicity potentially affecting subsequent contract awards and timely delivery of capability to our soldiers.”

He also suggested that DND’s public affairs staff might be notified “just in case this breaks before we have more info.”

DND had already contracted CACI during the first phase of the counter-drone program, nine months before the U.S. federal jury decision in November 2024.

In response to Poole’s questions, German said the information about the lawsuit was new to him, but explained that the company had been vetted according to the government’s “integrity regime” without any concerns being raised.

“Optics may look bad just because of the current political atmosphere but in my view not enough to prevent the award of the contract,” German wrote.

German also emphasized that the CACI subsidiary named in news reports about the U.S. lawsuit, “CACI Premier Technology,” was different from the one bidding for the DND contracts, “CACI Inc. - Federal.”

He claimed the two companies are “not related.” In fact, both companies are registered subsidiaries of CACI International.

“We will be preparing some comms lines to be ready to react if necessary,” German added.

The next day, Poole thanked German for his responses, and explained that his department would proceed “having completed the necessary due diligence.”

After The Maple published a story about the contracts being awarded in July 2025, Brigadier-General Christopher Moyle, director general of DND’s land equipment program management, circulated copied extracts from the article among his colleagues.

Poole confirmed receipt of the article, and provided a copy of German’s responses to his previous questions about the contracts. The Maple emailed DND for comment for this story, but did not receive any response.

CACI has consistently denied any wrongdoing. In a statement published after the federal jury verdict in 2024, the company said: “For nearly two decades, CACI has been wrongly subjected to long-term, negative affiliation with the unfortunate and reckless actions of a group of military police at Abu Ghraib prison from 2003 through 2004.”

“To be clear: no CACI employee has ever been charged—criminally, civilly, or administratively—in this matter. CACI employees did not take part in nor were any of our employees responsible for these disturbing events.”

The three plaintiffs, former inmates of Abu Ghraib who said they were tortured at the prison, were awarded $3 million USD each in compensatory damages and $11 million USD each in punitive damages.

CACI filed an appeal against the federal jury’s decision and said it was “extremely disappointed” with the verdict. A federal appeals court heard oral arguments regarding the appeal in September 2025. As reported by the Associated Press, the appeal centers on whether or not the court had proper jurisdiction on the matter.

The three plaintiffs do not accuse CACI interrogators of directly inflicting abuse they suffered, but argue the company was complicit because its interrogators conspired with military police to “soften up” detainees, per reporting from the Associated Press.

The U.S. military used Abu Ghraib to interrogate suspects after it invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003. 

According to officers cited in a 2004 Red Cross report and as referenced in a New York Times article, “70 to 90 percent” of Iraqis who were detained by American and allied forces “had been arrested by mistake.”

Soon after the Americans took over the Abu Ghraib complex, photos emerged of jailed Iraqis suffering abuse at the hands of American guards.

No CACI interrogators were criminally charged over the abuse, even though military investigators found in 2004 that several CACI interrogators were implicated in connection with wrongdoing.

The Maple emailed CACI several questions for this story, but did not receive any response.

Deepening Integration

Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney promising to pivot away from deepening integration with the U.S., DND and military officials have continued to advocate for billions more in spending on American-made equipment and further cooperation with the U.S. military.

As reported by the Ottawa Citizen last year, a top DND official admonished Western leaders for pushing what she called “absurd anti-United States narratives.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly threatened to turn Canada into the “51st” U.S. state.

Following the Trump administration’s recent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and its talk of taking over Greenland, some observers have warned the U.S. could try to use military coercion against Canada.

In The Globe and Mail, Thomas Homer-Dixon and Adam Gordon wrote: “Mr. Trump explicitly stated that the Venezuela operation’s aim was to secure access to the country’s oil [...] With its oil, minerals and water, Canada is a vital resource hinterland in the U.S.’s part of the map.”