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House Hansard - 200

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 200 - May/18/23
Mr. Darren Fisher (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors, Lib.)
  • May/18/23 6:42:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this evening, I am pleased to speak about the procurement process in the federal government. This is a process that is run by a professional, non-partisan public service that Canadians can be proud of. Canadians can rest assured that public servants are held to the highest standards when they enter into contracts. Canadians can also be assured that public servants are guided by best value when they evaluate proposals and make contracting decisions. These contracts help the public service deliver the programs and services that Canadians rely on. The central document guiding the public service in the contracting process is “Directive on the Management of Procurement”. This directive came into effect in May 2021. The directive replaced the previous contracting policy, which had been in place for 33 years. After a one-year transition period, the contracting policy was rescinded. This directive was part of the government's plan to modernize policies on managing the assets and services the federal government acquires. The government is proud of this achievement. The directive is principle-based and focused on outcomes. It supports business owners, who are a critical partner in the procurement process, by outlining roles and responsibilities. It also places an emphasis on socio-economic, indigenous and environmental objectives, and I will get back to that point later on. The directive sets out guidance and obligations for the professional public service to follow when procuring goods and services. Fundamentally, the directive ensures that the procurement of goods and services continues to be done in a way that is fair, open and transparent. Canadians can be assured that these principles are the backbone of all government contracts. This is demonstrated in the objective of the directive, which says, “The objective of this directive is that procurement of goods, services and construction obtains the necessary assets and services that support the delivery of programs and services to Canadians, while ensuring best value to the Crown.” This objective is backed up with six results the directive intends to achieve. For example, procurement must support operational outcomes while demonstrating sound stewardship and best value. I would like to get back to the point I made earlier about the emphasis the directive puts on socio-economic, indigenous and environmental objectives. In 2019, the government made a fundamental change in procurement policy. It redefined “best value” to mean a balance between competitive pricing and best outcome. This means that public servants who evaluate bills are able to consider the socio-economic and environmental returns of their contracts. This extends throughout the life cycle of the good or service being purchased. This represents a fundamental shift in procurement, where best value is not always the lowest price but the optimal balance of resources and outcomes. This includes outcomes from a socio-economic perspective and outcomes for the environment. The directive reflects this policy change by enabling departments to use their procurement processes to support environmental, indigenous and socio-economic considerations, as appropriate, to achieve the best value for Canadians. To achieve this result, and all six expected results, the directive creates the new role of senior designated official. Each department will appoint a senior designated official who will be responsible for establishing a departmental procurement framework that consists of processes, systems and controls that will guide procurement in their department. The senior designated official is also responsible for developing guidance regarding procurement officials within their organization. This includes identifying competencies, building capacity and establishing professional development for these officials. The government has considered procurement carefully and taken a comprehensive approach in “Directive on the Management of Procurement”. Canadians can be assured that the professional, non-partisan public service is guided by a modernized directive on procurement that ensures that contracting is fair, open—
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Context: House Hansard - 200 - May/18/23
Mr. Darren Fisher
  • May/18/23 6:47:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I can assure the member that under the directive on the management of procurement, as I said, professional, non-partisan public servants must maintain the integrity of the procurement process. Departments must obtain the best value in their procurement decisions, which has been redefined by our government to allow a comprehensive assessment of socio-economic and environmental returns throughout the life cycle of the good or service. The directive on the management of procurement is to establish guidelines and controls to guide the professional, non-partisan public service in achieving these goals.
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