Okay.
On a regular basis, large IT projects have failed and bureaucrats have been held responsible. This time they want to build an even larger project. They want to transfer the responsibility and control to a large company as a managed service and wash their hands of it. Who is looking out for the Canadian taxpayer here?
Third, cabinet believes that they shouldn't be allowed to pass on the operational management of multi-billion-dollar projects to private multinational companies with pre-established product lines, business partners, and offshore capabilities. So far the process has experienced a lack of transparency and fairness for SMEs. Coinciding with our transparency concerns is the fear that there will be no accountability within these shared service pillars.
The Government of Canada needs to maintain operational control of large IT projects. The project management, risk management, and delivery of services to Canadians is a responsibility that must remain within the Government of Canada. This is what accountability is all about. We do not want this committee to ask PWGSC to provide us special access to government contracts just because we're SMEs. We ask the committee to make several recommendations in a report.
In summary, our recommendations are for you to direct PWGSC not to proceed with large IT projects such as shared services without a properly completed and independently reviewed business plan; not to bundle contracts without a properly developed and independently reviewed business case to support this decision; to structure its RFPs in a way that will allow SMEs to bid in a reasonable manner; and to dissect large IT projects into smaller, more manageable pieces--chewable chunks--that will provide Canadian taxpayers with maximum accountability and ultimately tax savings.
Thank you.