BIOGRAPHY

Alan Williams is an Associate and Senior Advisor with David Pratt & Associates, a government relations and strategic consultancy firm located in Ottawa, Canada. Prior to joining the Canadian Public Service, Alan worked as a consultant and as an auditor in the private sector. He began his government career in 1972 working for Supply and Services Canada.

In 1981, he joined the Office of the Comptroller General. From 1987 to 1995, he was employed with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, initially as Director General of Finance and then as Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Services. In that position, he was responsible not only for corporate services but also for over $3 billion in programming for basic Indian Services such as education, social assistance and capital.

In 1995, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Supply Operations Service, for the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada. As ADM, he was responsible for ensuring the fairness, transparency and integrity of the procurement process, for managing procurements involving over $8.2 billion worth of acquisitions and for overseeing major Crown projects.

Alan was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) for the Department of National Defence in August 1999. In this position, he was responsible for expenditures of approximately $3 billion to acquire, sustain and upgrade equipment and for logistics planning in support of operations. He was also the Canadian representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), a senior NATO committee that develops and promotes cooperative armament programs within the alliance.

In April 2005, Alan retired from the Public Service and does consulting in the area of policy, programs and procurement. He has written articles on leadership and has authored two books: “Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement: A View From the Inside” published in 2006 and “Canada, Democracy and the F-35” published in 2012. In addition, Mr. Williams is a frequent commentator in the media on matters related to defence procurement.