Mr. Chair, that's a good question. In terms of justification for sole-sourcing, I think it is very important to highlight the need to have robust justifications and make those justifications transparent. If that were happening, the veil of secrecy that's associated sometimes with some of these direct contracts would be lifted. Again, make transparent exactly why there is perhaps only one supplier that's available. What is the public policy that dictates that it's in the public interest to direct a contract?
We're coming out of a time during COVID when the emergency exception was utilized for a wide variety of procurements. Directly about your question, what legal safeguards could we implement so we could make sure that all departments have robust justifications for the invocation of these exceptions?
That being said, these exceptions are actually part of the regulations, so I don't want to give the impression that exercising an exception is somehow wrongful—it is not. There are absolutely reasons why you should use those exceptions, but the problem lies in the justification and the transparency of that justification.