Thank you, Chair.
I'm going to start by reconfirming what I think I've heard in testimony from our witnesses this morning when it comes to the role of PSPC and the indigenous set-aside. As the procurement department for the Government of Canada, PSPC has testified that it does not have any oversight of a list of vendors that are required to meet certain criteria to qualify for the indigenous set-aside.
We know that various departments have the authority to award contracts, yet it seems that every time PSPC.... Over the last couple of years, as we've undertaken various scandals, we've seen within the Government of Canada and procurement that glaring mistakes have been made, and they have resulted in the government misspending tens of millions of dollars.
Under whose authority are departments given the ability to award contracts directly?