Government Operations committee  I think your question was, generally speaking, are we involved, and do we review the trade agreements in terms of applicability to federal government procurement? Indeed, in terms of Canada's negotiation of trade agreements, there are usually multiple departments involved. Publi

Government Operations committee  To my knowledge, Mr. Blaikie, there is no such document that provides that type of an analysis.

Government Operations committee  No, not at all. In terms of federal government contracting, if it's a change to a big-P policy, that change is manifested through Treasury Board Secretariat's contracting policy. If it's a change to small-p policies and procedures, they're manifested through Public Services and

Government Operations committee  What I can tell you in terms of PSAB is that it is a program. The program itself is based on the utilization of set-asides, primarily set-asides that are found in international trade agreements. On the set-asides in international trade agreements, Canada ensures that we have set

Government Operations committee  I think that's a great question. In terms of how they're manifested in the agreements currently, to my knowledge, they are not based on a specific threshold. The threshold is left to be decided by the party implementing the specific trade agreement, in other words, Canada.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely, where trade agreements provide coverage for goods or services, there are thresholds that are indicative above which those trade agreements apply. When you apply a set-aside, the set-aside provides an exemption. It sets that procurement aside in whole or in part from t

Government Operations committee  I'm not so sure I would agree with that. First, we need to analyze what agreements, including CETA or CFTA, apply to a particular procurement. Once that decision is made, we look at the procurement and the requirements and look to see what indigenous benefits could be provided. I

Government Operations committee  Essentially, we contacted everybody on that supply arrangement list—so it's a supply arrangement—and we informed them—

Government Operations committee  This was related to a supply arrangement, which means that there was a pre-qualified list of suppliers that formed part of that original listing. Upon extension of the time frame and removal of the 50-kilometre zone, all of the supply arrangement participants would have been info

Government Operations committee  The nature of the procurement vehicle itself, being that it is a pre-qualified list of suppliers, in and of itself necessitates the communication be done with that supplier grouping that's already pre-qualified to perform those duties and functions. In terms of any other procur

Government Operations committee  Sure, I'm happy to respond, but I don't truthfully know if I can respond to that. Yes, I've heard that's a consideration. I'm not sure where it's at in terms of the actual considerations moving forward. Acquisitions program is the common service provider in Public Services and

Natural Resources committee  I can cite numerous articles of trade agreements that we find a high likelihood both in law and in practice would be contrary to what is currently cited within the bill, and if the underlying crux of the bill is the promotion of the use of wood, then perhaps consideration—which I

Natural Resources committee  An example of this, if you look at another kind of industry, if you will, is PSPC's light duty vehicle procurement, where we have moved into using hybrid electric vehicles, and we are looking at the performance element of that, which is the reduction of GHG emissions, CO2 emissio

Natural Resources committee  I'm not aware of whether there are any examples related to concerns raised. What I can surmise is simply this: the examples I've heard here today are not necessarily at the federal level of government contracting. What we're talking about here today is the federal level of govern

Natural Resources committee  May I add something? Within the PSPC procurement system, we shouldn't shy away from the principles of openness, fairness, and transparency. They're espoused in law in the Financial Administration Act. They're espoused in our regulations. They're espoused in our trade agreement