Public Accounts committee  I agree with the fact that there is better value when we do not use subcontractors. At the end of the day, when you look at who has the contracts and the contractual arrangements, they are companies like Dalian, Coradix, GC Strategies and others. If individuals have not applied to be part of that contracting process, it's very difficult for us to put in place a contract.

Public Accounts committee  I'm not sure I would say that's fair, Mr. Chair. The requirement to obtain and maintain a security clearance remains. It's not that once you get security clearance, you are never checked up on again. There is a periodic renewal, and if there's information that comes to anyone's attention around reasons to suspend or terminate a security clearance for an individual or for a company, that gets done.

Public Accounts committee  Chair, I'll mention a couple of things. One is that yes, it's clear in the letter of offer that conflicts should be disclosed, and you have 60 days to do so. I think there are various times—once a year—when employees are reminded of their obligations and asked to redisclose. I think one of the things that could or should happen is being more aggressive in reminding employees of their obligations.

Public Accounts committee  The database I was referring to is one where we actually track contracts awarded. It's so that we can answer as best we can any questions about contract activity and proactive disclosure, etc. The ranking of contractors would be done on a case-by-case basis. When there's a competition, the contractors would bid.

Public Accounts committee  We have contractors that have been awarded through either a standing offer or a supply arrangement because they have pre-qualified, based on the proposals they've made to government, that we will access. Accessing those pre-qualified lists of suppliers is I guess a form of preference, in that they're pre-qualified, so it saves us some work, but I'm not aware of any ranking among those, no.

Public Accounts committee  PSPC would typically launch a process for a supply arrangement or a standing offer. Bidders would then apply and be awarded that. I'll turn to my friend Troy to tell me if National Defence does any of that. Shared Services Canada, on the IT side, would also take a similar approach of pre-qualifying bidders.

Public Accounts committee  Dalian was on multiple supply arrangements and standing offers that I believe were all put in place by Public Services and Procurement Canada and Shared Services Canada. They were absolutely on those lists.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, they were.

Public Accounts committee  The ability for Dalian, or a company like that, to qualify is based on Public Services and Procurement Canada or Shared Services Canada putting out a generic set of requirements. They would then respond with the types of resources they could bring to bear and their pricing, etc.

Public Accounts committee  I have made the provost marshal, our military police link, aware of the file. There is no such investigation yet, but I have committed to keeping the provost marshal informed of our work. If it gets to the point that he feels an investigation is warranted, he will let me know.

Public Accounts committee  That sounds reasonable, Mr. Chair.

Public Accounts committee  Yes.

Public Accounts committee  It's hard for me to say, based on my role and his role as employee of the department. It sounds like he was still involved, at least on paper. I think the more important piece to me is that Mr. Yeo did not see the conflicts, in fact or in appearance, with his employment role and he failed to disclose those conflicts to National Defence as his employer.

Public Accounts committee  We've talked a lot today, Mr. Chair, about the obligations of the employee in terms of informing the employer of a conflict. There is also an obligation on contractors to inform the contracting authority about conflict of interest. In the case of Dalian, Mr. Yeo did neither. There was enough, in our minds, to have concern about his actions and activities.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Yeo's political affiliations while he was a contractor—and that they predate joining the public service—are not of import to us. Had he been a public servant and pursuing candidacy of a political party, he would have needed to get clearance to do that. His political activities, in terms of an election, predate his employment, so they are not a concern.