Evidence of meeting #31 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was complaints.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
You are right, it is an important distinction.
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
It's very important.
In the third paragraph on page 6 of your presentation, you say “The agreement on international trade also allows preferences for Canadian goods and suppliers and for Canadian value-added [...]”.
What happens when a complaint is filed based on the fact that the procurement process was vaguely worded or simply because the Canadian subsidiary of an American company gets the contract?
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Under the agreement, Canadian-produced goods can be privileged if the level falls below a certain threshold. If memory serves me well, it is 10%.
Under the accord, Randy, we can privilege Canadian-produced goods. Isn't the level 10%?
The threshold is 10%.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
I want to make sure I understood. I own a company which manufactures hot water pumps. The Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada decides to open a bidding process because it has to replace its furnaces or the hot water pump which supplies hot water to our beautiful buildings, which incidentally do not have any water as we speak. So a typically Canadian company and an American subsidiary each put in a bid. Both companies submit similar specifications and estimates, but the Canadian subsidiary of the American company wins the contract. The Canadian business owner claims there has been prejudice. What happens? It is a good question, is it not?
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
I am not saying it is a good or bad question, but it is relevant. Unfortunately, I am restricted in what I can say. You are presenting me with a hypothetical situation and I cannot answer because, as a potential arbitrator, I would have prejudged the situation if I had to preside over a similar case one day. Do you understand?
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
I can tell you that this happened several years ago, but that the case was not brought to the International Trade Tribunal. The fact remains that, despite what you said about favouring Canadian companies...
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
What I am saying, Ms. Bourgeois, is that under the Agreement on Internal Trade, it is possible to favour Canadian-produced goods on the condition that the level falls below 10%. That is all I can tell you.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
All right.
I have a final question. Were you consulted with regard to the mandate of the ombudsman?
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
I am new to the tribunal, so I cannot tell you whether there were consultations. In fact, I have only been with the tribunal for three months.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Your two services are really interrelated, or at least there are many common areas.
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
They complement each other in some ways.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
That is right. So you don't know whether you were consulted.
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
When the decision was taken, we did have discussions with the acting ombudsman on the fact that the two services would complement each other, and we also made sure that people understood the different mandates of each service to ensure that when they file a complaint, they would know where to go.
For example, if you went on the ombudsman's website, you would see that it refers to the tribunal and explains the mandates of each organization.
Ms. Nadeau, if you receive questions, I believe you do the same thing.
Secretary, Secretariat, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Yes, that is what we do.
Bloc
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
We have to make sure that there is no confusion and that we clearly inform any potential complainant so that they do not lose their rights.
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Indeed, I know that these types of exchanges take place.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Excellent, thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Are there any other questions?
Thank you very much.
I hope this was useful.
I hope people understand a little bit more your role. In a sense, you're quite restricted. You know exactly what you have to do and what you can do. I would hope that the ombudsman can come in, and where there are holes, fill them. We'll keep looking at this, because we're very interested. We'd like to do an even more in-depth study of the procurement process.
Thank you very much.
Chairman, Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Madam Chairman, thank you. Thank you, members.
It was a very good experience. If you have other questions, we're always available to answer them.
Merci beaucoup.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Thank you.
Next Tuesday we will be working on the report, which has been circulated.