Thank you for the question and for your kind words, Ms. Lattanzio.
Yes indeed, the federal government could learn a lot from what is going in Quebec. That scandal is now behind us, but it wasn't so long ago.
To motivate myself and to prepare for the meeting today, I reviewed the report by the honourable Justice Gomery, which was released in 2005 following the sponsorship scandal. Some things have changed in the federal government; we have goodwill and good laws, but no continuous oversight. You can have the best laws in the world, but if no one is watching over the process, issues of waste or fraud can arise.
Through the Office of the Inspector General or, now, the Autorité des marchés publics in Quebec, it is possible to ensure that, when over-the-counter contracts are awarded, a neutral and independent body provides continuous oversight. A similar body, which could be appointed by the House of Commons, would be able to raise a red flag in record time to indicate an issue and that the contract should not have been awarded by mutual consent.
Mr. Blumberg stated that, after the Autorité des marchés publics was established, amendments were made to Quebec's Act Respecting Contracting by Public Bodies. He is absolutely right. Now, to award a contract by mutual consent, the electronic tendering system must send a notice of intent. The notice indicates that a charity or business is about to be awarded a contract worth such and such an amount by mutual consent, and that is why no tendering process is taking place. This public request for proposals allows people who are interested and able to provide a service to the government in a tight 15-day timeframe.
Let me go back to the example of WE Charity. I know it was urgent, but was granting scholarships to students so urgent that no survey or call for interest was necessary? From now on in Quebec, due to the amendments made to the Act Respecting Contracting by Public Bodies, these must be done. Otherwise, a complaint could be filed with the Autorité des marchés publics, which has the power to cancel any contract in violation of the rules. I believe that the federal government could learn from this approach.