Two ATIP responses. Same procurement program. Same date range. Opposite results.

DND A-2026-00128 (May 11, 2026): "Following a thorough and complete search for all records in response to your request, it is determined that no records could be located within the Department of National Defence."1

PSPC A-2026-00037 (June 16, 2026): "Enclosed is a copy of all records responsive to your request."2 Enclosure: a 35-page Ministerial briefing memorandum — Protected B, FOR DECISION — that DND co-authored, reviewed, and approved.

DND NIL Response Letter — May 11, 2026, page 1

DND NIL Response Letter, May 11, 2026, page 1. The entire response to a 60+ keyword CPSP request is a single sentence. https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00128/NIL-response-letter-A-2026-00128-2.png?raw=true

The PSPC memo names Korea and Germany as the two finalists for the $60B Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. It was signed by Minister Joël Lightbound on July 23, 2025. It falls squarely within the date range of the DND request. DND co-authored it. DND reviewed it. DND's Deputy Minister-level governance committee approved it. DND was instructed by PSPC to "submit the same" in parallel.

DND claims no records exist.

On June 17, 2026, Gender Watchdog filed an OIC complaint for inadequate search.3 This post documents the contradiction.

What DND Claimed

The ATIP request A-2026-00128 was filed April 11, 2026.1 It sought records held by ADM(Materiel) on the CPSP evaluation: Hanwha Ocean's submission, ITB obligations, GBA+/GEP/ESG assessments, Korean university partnership integrity, Article 92-6 implications, and Hanwha vs. TKMS comparative governance evaluation. The request contained 60+ keywords, all contextualized to the CPSP program. A s.4(2.1) duty-to-assist addendum was filed April 19 requiring fuzzy matching and operational-phrasing searches.

DND engaged substantively. A 10-email clarification chain from April 16–27 confirmed the OPI (Materiel Group), negotiated scope, narrowed keywords to CPSP context, and queried whether ADM(Materiel) or the broader Materiel Group was the target. DND understood the request.

On May 11, 2026 — the statutory deadline — DND issued a single-sentence response: "no records could be located."

What PSPC Released

On June 16, 2026, PSPC released a 35-page Ministerial Briefing Memorandum — File 177022, Protected B, FOR DECISION — from AADM Paula Folkes to Minister Joël Lightbound, dated July 21–23, 2025.4 31 of 35 pages are redacted under s.69(1)(g) (Cabinet confidence). Four pages contain substantive unredacted content. The memo was released with a response letter signed by Sophie Doucet, Manager, ATIP Directorate, PSPC.2

PSPC Response Letter — June 16, 2026, page 1

PSPC Response Letter, June 16, 2026, page 1. Sophie Doucet confirms responsive records were enclosed. https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00037/A-2026-00037-Response-Letter-2.png?raw=true

Six findings from the unredacted content:

1. Korea is a finalist. "Of those five suppliers, two are assessed to be a good fit for Canada: submarine builders from Germany and the Republic of Korea."4 (SUMMARY, page 1)

2. DND co-authored the memo. "The letter was jointly prepared by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Department of National Defence (DND)."4 (SUMMARY, page 1)

3. DND reviewed the memo. "External to PSPC, engagements and reviews were also conducted with National Defence, Global Affairs Canada and ISED."4 (CONSULTATIONS, page 2)

4. DM Governance Committee approved it. "The CPSP was presented to the Deputy Minister's Governance Committee meeting on June 20, 2025. The Committee approved the next step."4 (NEXT STEPS, page 3)

5. The Minister signed it. "✓ agree with the recommendation. 07/23/2025" — Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement. Deputy Minister Arianne Reza signed July 21, 2025.4 (RECOMMENDATION, page 3)

6. DND was instructed to submit in parallel. "Please ensure that it is shared with DND for them to submit the same [redacted]" — Claudine Bouvier, Strategic Advisor, DM's office, July 18, 2025.4 (Email chain, page 18)

Full Release Package (35-page PDF): https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/pdf-downloads/atip-requests/responses/A-2026-00037/A-2026-00037%20-%20Release%20Package.pdf

Government personnel names are visible. Pages 1–4 contain the substantive unredacted content (SUMMARY, BACKGROUND, CONSULTATIONS, NEXT STEPS, RECOMMENDATION). Pages 5–35 are fully or partially redacted under s.69(1)(g). The advocate's name has been redacted from the response letter screenshots.

The Contradiction

DND co-authored this memo. DND reviewed it. DND's Deputy Minister-level governance committee approved the next step it recommended. DND was instructed by PSPC to submit a corresponding document in parallel.

The memo is dated July 2025 — squarely within the A-2026-00128 date range of January 1, 2024 to April 11, 2026.

DND's NIL response claimed "no records could be located within the Department of National Defence."

Both statements cannot be true.

There are two possible explanations, and both support the OIC complaint:

  • DND's search excluded the relevant offices. The offices that prepared, reviewed, and approved the memo — the ADM(Mat) Deputy Minister's office, the CPSP Integrated Project Team, the Deputy Minister's correspondence files — were not searched. If so, the search was not "thorough and complete" as represented.

  • DND located the memo and did not disclose it. If the memo was found but withheld, the NIL response was inaccurate.

The OIC investigation will determine which explanation applies. The contradiction itself is documented on the formal record.5

The OIC Complaints

On June 17, 2026, Gender Watchdog filed two OIC complaints against DND:3

  • A-2026-00128: Inadequate search. The complaint alleges DND's search was not "thorough and complete" as represented, and that additional records exist — as demonstrated by the PSPC release of a DND co-authored document on the same subject.

  • A-2026-00200: Deemed refusal. DND obtained a clock restart via an amendment process on May 14, 2026, then missed the restarted deadline of June 13, 2026. No response. No extension notice.

These are the third and fourth OIC complaints against DND on the CPSP procurement. Two earlier complaints were filed May 14, 2026, after DND deemed-refused both within the 30-day statutory window.

The pattern across all four DND files:

File Subject DND Action
A-2026-00128 CPSP procurement governance NIL — contradicted by PSPC evidence
A-2026-00129 Article 92-6 / CAF LGBTQ+ policy Deemed refusal
A-2026-00130 RCN sailor selection criteria Deemed refusal
A-2026-00200 RCN female sailor selection Deemed refusal

DND processed the procurement-governance file with a NIL now proven inaccurate. DND stonewalled all three human rights and personnel policy files. Whether this correlation reflects institutional prioritization or selective compliance with the Access to Information Act is a question the OIC is now examining.

Why This Matters

The CPSP is a $60B procurement. The government must choose between TKMS (Germany) and Hanwha Ocean (Korea).

The PSPC memo confirms the shortlisting decision was made in mid-2025 — before Gender Watchdog's first submission to the government on January 26, 2026. The due diligence gap is now on the formal record: Canada shortlisted a supplier from a country whose military criminalizes same-sex conduct before receiving or assessing any civil society input on that fact.6

But the final contract has not been awarded. The PSPC memo confirms the government is at the two-supplier shortlist stage. GW's documentation — Article 92-6 criminalization of LGBTQ+ soldiers, forced labour risks at the Geoje shipyard, falsified university partnerships including Dongguk, GEP non-compliance, and the broader institutional integrity record — remains directly material to which of the two finalists is selected.

DND's refusal to disclose its evaluation records — and its claim that no such records exist — while PSPC confirms joint PSPC-DND records do exist, raises a question that goes beyond access to information law. If DND cannot locate its own co-authored Cabinet-level memo on the CPSP evaluation, what else in the procurement record is missing?7

What the PSPC Memo Also Confirms

The unredacted BACKGROUND section of the memo establishes the procurement timeline:4

  • 2021: CPSP team established
  • Dec 2022: Options Analysis completed
  • 2023: Six-country fact-finding visits (France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden). Japan subsequently withdraws.
  • Sep 2024: RFI published on CanadaBuys; Feb 2025: RFI closes — 25 responses, 7 from OEMs
  • Jun 20, 2025: DM Governance Committee approves next step
  • Jul 23, 2025: Minister Lightbound signs

This is not media speculation. It is a Government of Canada document — the first official ATIP release confirming that Korea and Germany are the two finalists for the CPSP contract.

DND told the requester that no CPSP evaluation records exist. PSPC released a CPSP evaluation record that DND co-authored.

The PSPC memo is available in full on GitHub.4 The response letters — with the advocate's name redacted and government official names visible — are also posted.12 The OIC complaint package is on file with the federal Information Commissioner.3

Gender Watchdog documents institutional accountability failures. This is one of them — documented, sourced, and now on the formal record.

Update — June 22–26, 2026: OIC Opens Formal Investigations

On June 22 and June 26, 2026, the Office of the Information Commissioner issued section 32 notices confirming formal investigations into both complaints filed June 17.89

A-2026-00200 — Deemed refusal (OIC file 5826-01709): The Commissioner confirmed DND "did not respond to the above-noted access request(s) within the 30-day or extended period, as required by section 7."8 The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a). DND obtained a clock restart via amendment on May 14, 2026, with a new deadline of approximately June 13. That deadline passed. No response. No extension notice. The Commissioner is now investigating.

A-2026-00128 — Inadequate search and improper NIL claim (OIC file 5826-01708): The Commissioner confirmed investigation into two specific allegations: that DND "did not search for the records requested and/or that additional records that are responsive to the above-noted access request(s) must exist," and that DND "improperly responded that some or all of the records requested in the above-noted access request(s) do not exist."9 Both allegations fall under paragraph 30(1)(a). This is the investigation that directly validates the central contradiction documented in this post: DND claimed no CPSP evaluation records exist. PSPC released one DND co-authored. The Information Commissioner is now formally examining whether DND's search was "thorough and complete" as represented.

Status of all four DND CPSP files as of June 26:

File Subject DND Action OIC Status
A-2026-00128 CPSP procurement governance NIL — contradicted by PSPC evidence s.32 investigation active — inadequate search + improper NIL
A-2026-00129 Article 92-6 / CAF LGBTQ+ policy Deemed refusal s.32 investigation active since May 20, 2026
A-2026-00130 RCN sailor selection criteria Deemed refusal s.32 investigation active since May 20, 2026
A-2026-00200 RCN female sailor selection Deemed refusal s.32 investigation active — failure to respond

Four OIC investigations. All four confirmed by section 32 notices. Four CPSP access requests. Four DND failures. One consistent pattern — documented, sourced, and now under formal investigation by Canada's independent Information Commissioner.

Update — July 6, 2026: Canada Names TKMS Preferred Bidder

On July 6, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney named Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), bid in partnership with Norway, as the preferred bidder for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project — up to 12 submarines, with an acquisition cost of roughly $24 billion rising to as much as $100 billion over three decades once lifetime maintenance and support are included.10 Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III Batch-II bid was not selected.11 The announcement names a preferred bidder; it does not finalize a signed contract, and negotiations are expected to continue.10

This does not close the accountability questions this post documents — it sharpens them. The four OIC investigations concern whether DND's evaluation record was ever properly searched, disclosed, and assessed before Canada reached this point, not which bidder ultimately won. If DND's search for CPSP evaluation records was inadequate, as the Commissioner is now investigating, that inadequacy applied throughout the evaluation period that produced today's decision — including whatever assessment DND conducted of the human rights, industrial safety, and institutional integrity risks this campaign documented in Hanwha's bid. A preferred-bidder announcement does not retroactively cure an evaluation process that DND has yet to fully disclose. The Office of the Information Commissioner's investigations remain open, and this post will be updated as they progress.

Sources

  1. Department of National Defence, NIL Response Letter — File A-2026-00128 (May 11, 2026). Signed by Shannon Clark Larkin, Executive Director, Access to Information and Privacy. Screenshots: https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00128/NIL-response-letter-A-2026-00128-1.png?raw=true, https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00128/NIL-response-letter-A-2026-00128-2.png?raw=true ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Public Services and Procurement Canada, Response Letter — File A-2026-00037 (June 16, 2026). Signed by Sophie Doucet, Manager, ATIP Directorate. Screenshots: https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00037/A-2026-00037-Response-Letter-1.png?raw=true, https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00037/A-2026-00037-Response-Letter-2.png?raw=true ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. OIC Complaint Package — A-2026-00128 (inadequate search) + A-2026-00200 (deemed refusal), filed June 17, 2026 against DND. These are the third and fourth OIC complaints on the CPSP procurement, following A-2026-00129 and A-2026-00130 filed May 14, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. PSPC Release Package — Ministerial Briefing Memorandum, File 177022, Protected B, FOR DECISION (July 21–23, 2025). Author: AADM Paula Folkes. Signed by DM Arianne Reza (July 21, 2025) and Minister Joël Lightbound (July 23, 2025). Released under ATIP A-2026-00037. 35 pages, ~31 redacted under s.69(1)(g). Full PDF: https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/blob/master/pdf-downloads/atip-requests/responses/A-2026-00037/A-2026-00037%20-%20Release%20Package.pdf — All A-2026-00037 images: https://github.com/Gender-Watchdog/evidence_repository/tree/master/imgs/canada-korea-military-lgbt-human-rights/atip-responses/A-2026-00037 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  5. Gender Watchdog, Analysis of A-2026-00037 Release Package. On file. Key findings: joint PSPC-DND authorship confirmed; DM Governance Committee approval documented; Ministerial signature obtained July 23, 2025. The analysis cross-references the PSPC memo against DND's NIL on A-2026-00128 and identifies the contradiction documented in this post. ↩

  6. Gender Watchdog, "Criminalizing the Crew: Korea's Article 92-6, Canada's Armed Forces Law, and the Conflict Arriving at Esquimalt" (April 5, 2026). https://blog.genderwatchdog.org/korea-military-article-92-6-canada-cpsp-lgbtq-conflict-esquimalt/ ↩

  7. Gender Watchdog, "Two Sailors, One Question DND Cannot Answer" (April 11, 2026). https://blog.genderwatchdog.org/rcn-sailors-roks-dosan-article-92-6-selection-criteria-atip/ ↩

  8. Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, s.32 Notice of Intention to Investigate — A-2026-00200, OIC file 5826-01709 (June 22, 2026). Allegation: DND did not respond within the 30-day or extended period as required by s.7 of the Access to Information Act. ↩ ↩2

  9. Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, s.32 Notice of Intention to Investigate — A-2026-00128, OIC file 5826-01708 (June 26, 2026). Two allegations: (1) DND did not search for requested records and/or additional responsive records must exist; (2) DND improperly responded that records do not exist. ↩ ↩2

  10. CBC News, Murray Brewster, "Carney to choose Germany and Norway to build Canada's submarines" (July 6, 2026). https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/submarines-germany-canada-norway-south-korea-9.7259709 — "The navy is looking for 12 submarines… The acquisition cost could run to $24 billion, but with lifetime maintenance and support, the final bill over three decades could be upward of $100 billion, according to some estimates." Confirms TKMS (bid with Norway) as preferred bidder; confirms "a contract still needs to be signed" — a preferred bidder is named, not a finalized contract. Dave Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute: "The selection today of TKMS as the preferred bidder is a huge step forward to acquire Canadian naval capability." — CTV News (@CTVNews on X), "Canada chooses German company to build new submarine fleet: report" (July 6, 2026, 12:50pm ET). https://x.com/CTVNews/status/2074113715390005427 ↩ ↩2

  11. Korea Times, "Germany's TKMS beats Hanwha Ocean for Canada submarine deal: Canadian media" (July 6, 2026). https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/defense/20260706/germanys-tkms-beats-hanwha-ocean-for-canada-submarine-deal-canadian-media — confirms Hanwha Ocean's KSS-III Batch-II bid (fuel-cell propulsion and lithium-ion batteries, pledged over $50 billion in economic impact, proposed first delivery by 2032) was not selected; describes the outcome as Hanwha's second major setback against TKMS, after Hanwha's earlier withdrawal from India's Project-75I submarine program. ↩