Government Operations Committee on Nov. 16th, 2020

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Okay, we're going to try again.

Minister, hopefully you can still hear us. Mr. McCauley has a minute and a half left.

Mr. McCauley, you have the floor.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Only Scott Brison could avoid questions better than that.

Minister, on July 1, 2020, amendments were made to the Canada customs tariff and the schedule to the customs tariff that forced government and suppliers into Canada to take steps to map out the supply chain and then conduct risk-based due diligence of the supply chain to assess whether forced labour is present.

Why is PSPC not following the guidelines from the customs tariff?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I'm going to hand this question to my deputy minister.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

No, Minister, I want to hear from you, because we've asked this question before about forced labour. We'd like to hear from the minister.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

The deputy minister is best suited for this question.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Minister, I'm going to refer you to—

[Bill Matthews]

Thanks, Minister.

I think the minister has already said that we need to do more, and I'm happy to share in the second hour some of the ideas we're pursuing with suppliers to talk about what improvements could be made to the current system.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

However, why is PSPC not following our own laws? Under the changes made July 1, 2020, it states that you have to map out the supply chain, yet our government is not.

I will go back to Mr. Drouin's trying to call a point of order. In the contracting policy from TBS, it states in subsection 8.2.1: “Role of the ministers. The minister is ultimately responsible to Parliament for all contracting activity.”

Mr. Matthews, no offence, but I want to hear from the minister. It is her responsibility under the contracting policy, subsection 8.2.1. We asked this question months ago. She's had plenty of time to come up with an answer. The Government of Canada's rep to the UN has stated that the Chinese are committing genocide against the Uighurs, yet our own government will not follow our own laws on PPE. The USMCA actually has a rule—I think it's article 5.1—about not allowing purchase of forced labour, yet our government will not follow our own laws.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Mr. McCauley, if you can get to the question—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

I'd like to hear from the minister.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have to respond to that lengthy question?

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

You have 30 seconds.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Thank you.

Let me just begin by saying that our government is making an extraordinary effort to acquire PPE during a global pandemic, when Canadians and front-line health care workers needed PPE to survive. The one billion items—

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Minister, that does not justify the purchase of forced-labour PPE.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Mr. McCauley, let the minister answer the question, please.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, I can't hear anything, because Mr. McCauley keeps talking over the witness.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I've asked Mr. McCauley to let the minister answer the question quickly, if we can.

You have 15 seconds, please.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

In addition, I have mentioned that when engaging suppliers, our department does seek to understand the supply chain to ensure that forced labour is not present. We all agree that more needs to be done. Our department is working very hard to ensure that forced labour is not part of the supply chain, and we are seeking information from our suppliers regarding any forced or child labour in the supply chains. This is important to us as well, and we will work to make sure that our contracting process occurs with integrity.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Mr. Kuzmierczyk, you have five minutes.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, thank you for once again joining us at committee. It's wonderful to see you, and thank you very much for your thoughtful responses to the other questions put forward.

The departmental plan sets forth a goal of having at least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed by indigenous peoples. What has the government done to promote procurement from indigenous-led businesses, and how are we doing?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I want to begin by saying that our government is committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is committed to a renewed relationship with indigenous peoples, and I feel honoured that as the minister of PSPC I can play a role in establishing a relationship with indigenous suppliers.

We are developing initiatives to increase opportunities for indigenous businesses to succeed and grow. For example, through the pandemic, we awarded 26 contracts, worth over $73 million, to 21 companies. Those are indigenous-run businesses.

We've also run competitions specifically for indigenous businesses because we realize that it's very important for indigenous businesses to have access to federal contracting opportunities.

I am committed to increasing opportunities for indigenous businesses. I have, on my own team, hired a person who is responsible for indigenous policy and procurement. It is a priority for me, and I will continue to work on it.

I would also like to say, though, that it's not just indigenous businesses that I am concerned about. I am concerned about black-owned and managed businesses. I have reached out and held round tables with members of the black business community so that we can ensure that members of diverse communities across this country have access to procurement opportunities from the federal government.

I would also like to mention—and specifically because I know that MP Green has concerns about disaggregated data—that I, too, have those concerns. We have put in place an e-procurement system to enable us to glean data relating to indigenous and diverse suppliers. Data that we haven't heretofore been able to collect will now be able to be collected through the e-procurement system that we are piloting and that we hope to be using across government in terms of federal contracts.

Thank you for the question. It's been very important to me, and it will continue to be important to me as minister and as a visible minority minister at that.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

That's terrific, Minister. Thank you very much for that.

The number you quoted—I think it was $75 million in contracts—are those contracts for procurement just during the COVID-19 period?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Yes, they are.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Are you able to provide us with just a sense of what types of services were procured during this time?