Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I don't really know how to answer the question, to be perfectly honest.

Government Operations committee  With the standing offer in place, had Global Affairs issued a call-up, it would have been issued to Nuctech.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. During the procurement process, when we received the initial request from Global Affairs, we did go back and double-check with them to see whether or not the “no security clearance” was a potential issue or concern. My understanding is that prior to the award of the standing offer, we double- checked that there were still no security issues at the time.

Government Operations committee  As I said, the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises is there to help inform Canadian companies of tender notices or procurement opportunities. We're also carrying out other work, for example, to change our procurement systems and move to a digital and electronic system. In addition, we're trying to simplify our procurement processes as much as possible to encourage SMEs to participate.

Government Operations committee  Yes. That's correct. The standing offer for the supply of security screening equipment, X-ray machines, was awarded to Nuctech.

Government Operations committee  Yes. All the bids received were assessed in accordance with the tender notice. As I said, there were 63 technical criteria, which were all reviewed. Three companies were considered eligible. We looked at the prices of the three companies that met the 63 requirements. Based on those prices, we awarded the standing offer.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We take this very seriously. Assessments are conducted in partnership with our clients. Of course, the technical areas are established by our clients. They also review the bids from a technical standpoint. We conduct a secondary review to make sure that the bids were assessed in keeping with the requirements.

Government Operations committee  Given the time constraints, I'll be brief. The standing offer doesn't create any obligations on the part of the federal government. Our client initiated a review of the offer to determine whether the supplier would meet their requirements. As my counterpart at Global Affairs Canada said, as soon as his officials have completed the report, they'll look at it with us in order to move forward with the procurement.

Government Operations committee  I can't tell you exactly when the minister was informed. However, once the information was released and Minister Champagne had discussed it, over the summer, I believe that she was informed.

Government Operations committee  The Deloitte review.... My understanding is that they took a look at the security posture of Global Affairs' missions and the equipment they would need within there, and not specifically on the procurement process.

Government Operations committee  With regard to what, pardon me?

Government Operations committee  When we received the request from Global Affairs and it had no security implications, nobody raised it. I know there were conversations between Global Affairs and our procurement folks, but at the time the view was that there was no need for security—

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question. I was the director general with the office of small and medium enterprises. Public Services and Procurement Canada is doing a number of things, but in the interest of time I'll only highlight two of them. The office of small and medium enterprises exists to help Canadian companies to understand the federal procurement process, to be able to find opportunities that exist on the Buyandsell website, and to be able to get assistance in terms of understanding the federal procurement process.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. Obviously, I'm not an expert on the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, so I'll share the information that's publicly available. A complaint was filed with the tribunal with regard to the request for standing offers, both elements of it: group 1, which was for the X-ray machines, as well as group 2, which was for walk-through metal detectors.