Thank you.
I want to begin by thanking the committee for allowing the Canadian Furniture Task Group the opportunity to express its views. We believe it's an important issue for the government as a whole.
My name is David Swire. I'm with Teknion Furniture Systems Limited, a Canadian manufacturer. Bob Axam, a competitor of mine also on the task group, is with Haworth Limited, with significant manufacturing facilities in this country as well. We represent the Canadian Furniture Task Group, a coalition of more than 50 participants formed by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, which we refer to as BIFMA. In Canada, BIFMA includes some 30 members and is the primary voice of the Canadian furniture industry.
I think it's important to state right from the beginning that the Canadian Furniture Task Group and its members are good corporate citizens and that all of us share in the public's desire for the Government of Canada to be more efficient and to reduce the cost to the taxpayers of the goods and services it buys.
We support and have participated in the consultative process conducted by the Conference Board of Canada to ensure that the voice of the furniture industry is heard before the federal government takes any final decisions on how it will achieve its goals. We are encouraged by the direction the process is taking, but are concerned that Public Works and Government Services' consultative approach may end when the Conference Board reports to the federal government.
The Canadian Furniture Task Group believes the government can reach its goal of reducing overall expenditures on furniture by 15%, but the current proposal that assumes savings can be achieved through economies of scale and by simply reducing the number of suppliers under standing offers, without measuring the cost, will not be successful. We believe there is a better way.
The use of the existing national master standing offers, or NMSOs, according to Public Works' own website, has resulted in savings of between 25% and 30% between 2005 and 2006. These savings were achieved with less than half of the government departments, agencies, and crown corporations participating within one full year of marked improvement in the process.
There are many ways we can assist the government to achieve its goals, but as an immediate first step we are confident that further savings can be achieved by making the national master standing offers into national mandatory standing offers across the Government of Canada. This process will also allow our government customers a broad range of choices without reducing access to the many businesses that depend on doing business in the public sector.
We believe healthy competition maximizes price effectiveness and creativity and the product solutions provided. The Canadian Furniture Task Group feels strongly that the national master standing offer program should continue to be open to all qualified suppliers, especially aboriginal enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses throughout the country. We also believe Treasury Board should be given the role of ensuring all departments within the federal government use this system, and with some consequences for failure to comply.
This one single move on behalf of the Government of Canada will achieve more than enough savings to allow the government to achieve its goals without damage to the Canadian manufacturers, dealers, and suppliers across Canada or to the successful aboriginal businesses that now participate in this important sector.
We have encouraged the government to form a furniture council to enable our industry to work with the government's own experts, with the goal of finding additional ways to improve the procurement process while maintaining competition, choice, innovation, and access.
Late yesterday we were notified that Public Works wants to proceed with this idea. There are many models for how this council could work, and we are open to discussion on what form it may take.
The Canadian Furniture Task Group would like to see a council that truly reflects the furniture industry as a whole. All the players must be brought to the table, including manufacturers, the many dealers and suppliers who serve the Government of Canada, and the government's own internal experts, such as facilities managers, ergonomists, contract specialists, and the people who actually use the furniture.
This council can also play a major role in the creation of an improved procurement process that represents the best thinking of all interested parties and affords the opportunity to provide innovative quality products at the best price to the federal government.
These are just some of our ideas on helping the government and taxpayers receive more value for their money.
We'd be glad to accept any questions. Thank you for your time.