Transport committee  Good morning, everyone. Madam Chair and members of the committee, hello. I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions concerning Bill C-227. My name is David Schwartz, as the chair mentioned, and I am the director general of CAAMS, the commer

Transport committee  I would like to clarify that. In fact, our sector purchases various kinds of vehicles, parts, construction materials, and so on. The construction and maintenance of federal government buildings represents about $5.4 billion of the $7.8 billion annually. In addition, 72 per cent

Transport committee  I would like to clarify something. I said 98 per cent for Quebec and Ontario. That figure is different; it is a base figure. To arrive at that figure, I considered all construction contracts signed by Public Services and Procurement Canada. On average, that comes to a little over

Transport committee  I would say that the bill will enable Public Services and Procurement Canada to require that suppliers provide information. Today, we do not collect information about community benefits. With this bill, we will have the power to do that.

Transport committee  I would like to clarify something. We signed a contract with suppliers in the Quebec, Atlantic and Prairies regions. So we know whom we are doing business with. On the question of community benefits, are there apprentices, are parks and other things being built? In my opinion, t

Transport committee  At the moment, that would be optional, but not mandatory.

Transport committee  As I mentioned, it is not that it is difficult, but it would be optional. The supplier has no obligation to do an assessment.

Transport committee  That is an excellent question.

Transport committee  I will have to check that again with legal services, because I am not a lawyer. In my view, the purpose of the bill is to gather information.

Transport committee  I would say, absolutely, yes. At this time, if our requirements are to build a new bridge or to do some maintenance on a building, we will have technical specifications, we'll have requirements, a statement of work, effectively. The other benefits that accrue, such as community

Transport committee  It would be premature to declare or make a statement with respect to what we anticipate doing. This is the starting point. Once we start collecting the information, if we require modifications in terms of the regime.... For example, right now, it's envisioned that bidders would p

Transport committee  One of the challenges with respect to this bill, from a departmental perspective, is the scope. As you indicated, it's only for those contracts issued and only applies to what is done by PSPC. We manage 30% of federal assets. All government construction activities represent 1% o

Transport committee  The trade agreements that Canada has with our trading partners provide very interesting and very advantageous opportunities for Canadian companies to export. It's a quid pro quo type of arrangement where foreign companies then have access to Canadian markets. The current trade a

Transport committee  To begin with, I would like to clarify something. Bill C-227 requires that in our requests for proposals, information about community benefits be provided. It is important to note that it is not talking about including a community benefits requirement. That is not a mandatory cr

Transport committee  That is a good question. It goes back somewhat to your colleague's comments. The goal of assembling this information and doing an analysis, whether it is after one year or two years, is to determine whether there have, in fact, been the community benefits promised. Otherwise, ba