Mr. Chair and committee, thank you for the invitation to come and shed some light on our experience with the PSAB program.
Today I am accompanied by Donelda DeLaRonde, the executive director of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation.
I will be brief in order to save some time for questioning.
As an owner of K-Sports Marine for 27 years, which is 100% aboriginal owned, I have been working with the PSAB program for eight years with very limited success. Over the years we have experienced a lack of willingness to use the program as the PSAB policy states. This has been an issue from the onset; it's not new. All the purchasing departments think they have a choice in dispersing the procurement. That's not the way the PSAB policy is written. They have to use it—it's mandatory—if they are procuring to communities that are 80% populated or more.
I have attended many aboriginal government meetings where they tell the audience that this specific program is there for them to use. Let me tell you, with eight years' experience, it's not. What they are telling aboriginal business and what happens in terms of executing a program are two different things. It simply doesn't work.
One of the biggest issues is that the program is clearly defined, but the personnel who are implementing the program have their own interpretations of how to deliver it. PSAB should not be subject to interpretation for their own control.
I believe the program was set out with the intention of helping aboriginal businesses to establish themselves and to develop their own economic and social benefits. The only problem is that the system does not allow the program to do what it was intended to do.
I want to provide you with some specific examples. They're not in the notes I provided to the committee, but I have also provided these updated notes to the interpreters to make their jobs easier.
Number one, I was awarded many standing offers that were never used. The excuses given to me were that we're not competitive. In order to verify whether this was true, with the next standing offer, I purposely bid lower than the original manufactured cost to the government. I won the standing offer but was not awarded any contracts, and I wasn't provided any reasons.
Number two, the RCMP procured snowmobiles through PWGSC. I confirmed that the delivery of the snowmobiles was going to an aboriginal community. I asked them why they never used PSAB. They informed me of their interpretation that snowmobiles are never to be used by aboriginal people, and that therefore they did not have to follow PSAB. Again, this to me illustrates that there is no defined policy, and interpretation is used to control the procurement policy.
Number three concerns Fisheries and Oceans. PWGSC put out a contract for the purchase of a boat and a motor. After researching the contract details, I determined that the final destination was an aboriginal community. I called PWGSC and asked why this contract was not designated to PSAB procurement. The answer given was this: because the outboard motor was delivered to the manufacturer of the boat, their interpretation was that it was not going to be an aboriginal community, although in fact the final destination of the boat and motor was to the aboriginal community.
All I can say is that I need to become a lawyer to argue interpretation.
At this time I have more experiences I could share. I very much would like you to ask questions, as I can provide much more specific information to you that would be helpful in understanding the problems aboriginal businesses across Canada are facing.
Thank you for your time.