When it comes to the contracting policy or the regulations of the Treasury Board policy, there are a number of conditions that apply. Departments are given certain authorities to contract up to a certain limit, and that depends very much on the nature of the contract. For example, the Department of National Defence has much higher authorities than other departments.
When it comes to sole-source contracts, basically departments, or in this case a minister's office, have the authority to enter into sole-source contracts up to $100,000. They can also make one amendment up to an additional $50,000. In this case, when you look at those authorities, you'll see that essentially this contract was in the authorities. Now, the minister has to ensure, or a department has to ensure, when letting the contract, that they comply with the conditions of a sole-source contract.
Overall, that is the way the contracting policy works. If there are contracts over a certain limit, then they must come to the board for approval.