Government Operations committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Minister. The agile approach to procurement is primarily used in the IT field, when we buy computer systems or other items. We have started using this approach, which has been used regularly in the private sector for the past few years. We continu

Government Operations committee  In terms of indigenous procurement, our department is undertaking a number of activities in collaboration with colleagues in other departments, such as Indigenous Services Canada, as well as Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and others. One of the things I would highlight, fo

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon. Before we start, I'd like to acknowledge that the land on which I work and live is the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg people. We acknowledge the importance of continued work towards economic reconciliation for indigen

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. The Innovative Solutions Canada program is managed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, or ISED. So I'm not in a position to answer the question directly, unfortunately. My colleagues who work in that department would be better able

Government Operations committee  Again, our colleagues at ISED would be better placed to answer a question about the Innovative Solutions Canada program. I know, however, that the program, which was developed by our colleagues at ISED, is intended to encourage innovation in technology. Unfortunately, I don't kn

Government Operations committee  That's right. ISED representatives would indeed be in a better position to answer your question. I can mention one point, though, that I hope will be helpful. The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, or OSME, is one of the organizations that is part of our department. OSME ha

Government Operations committee  We are already in the process of implementing almost all of the recommendations for our department. Several of these recommendations deal with simplifying the federal procurement system. Two of our activities in this area would be of interest to the committee. The first is the im

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. In a moment, I'll turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Lawrence-Whyte, who will speak a bit about the office of small and medium enterprises and what they're doing to be able to support small business in terms of federal procurement. To answe

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. I'll go back to the report that was filed in June 2018. One of the comments we received from suppliers was that it is quite difficult for them to find contracting opportunities on the Buyandsell.gc.ca website. The good thing is that there is a lot of

Government Operations committee  We have already started working on agile procurement, and we are in the process of finishing the training sessions on the topic. I would tend to say that agile procurement applies primarily to the IT area, where we are looking for solutions to problems or opportunities. So the t

Government Operations committee  The training is delivered by PSPC experts with knowledge and experience in agile procurement in the federal government. We are the department with the most experience in this area. These experts hone their knowledge and skills with information they receive from third parties in

Government Operations committee  This is a bit difficult to answer. I apologize in advance, because there are several things to consider. In response to the first question, teams are set up based on specific procurement projects, which help find the resources needed to increase the likelihood of successful proc

Government Operations committee  I appreciate the context and the information that was provided. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how great the response is going to be. The monitoring of the compliance is undertaken by Employment and Social Development Canada. If ESDC were to flag to us that there was a concern with

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. To respond to the question directly, I think it may be beneficial for the committee, as part of its study, to request Employment and Social Development Canada to explain their approach in terms of how they undertake monitoring and compliance of this partic

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. If the chair will permit, I will have to come back with a written response on that.