Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to address another topic, the issue of awarding public contracts based on the lowest bidder. Clearly, that involves several risks and drawbacks today.
It's important not to overlook the possible repercussions of awarding public contracts on competition and on small and medium-sized enterprises, which probably cannot take into account competition based on price. Projects may cost less over the short term, but they cost a lot more over the long term. Also, those businesses are often deprived of the ability to innovate.
Is there another solution that could ensure the quality of projects and make it easier for small or medium-sized enterprises to participate in the public contracting process, a solution better suited to those businesses in terms of competition based on price?
My question is for Ms. Bednar, but other witnesses may also want to comment afterwards.