Discussion · Government Orders
Eric Duncan Conservative
“I want to know why the government is removing rules around giving contracts without competition. This bill creates about 13 ways to skip the normal bidding process. That cuts down on transparency and stops Parliament from checking how money is spent.”
“Mr. Speaker, my question for the hon. member focuses on accountability and transparency. What is being proposed here, the government says, is a better effort to procure defence items, which as a whole, at a far glance or an upper look at things, would be agreeable. However, the transparency is with respect to the amount of sole-sourcing. I believe, if I am correct, off the top of my head, there are about 13 exemptions where the minister or that agency would have the opportunity to sole-source without very much transparency. This leads us to the many different examples we have seen over the course of time of removing the transparency, accountability and connection to Parliament to be able to scrutinize things as thoroughly as possible. My question for the member is, why are the Liberals removing the transparency and guardrails around the sole-sourcing of contracts at a time when we need more?”
Mr. Speaker, my question for the hon. member focuses on accountability and transparency. What is being proposed here, the government says, is a better effort to procure defence items, which as a whole, at a far glance or an upper look at things, would be agreeable. However, the transparency is with respect to the amount of sole-sourcing. I believe, if I am correct, off the top of my head, there are about 13 exemptions where the minister or that agency would have the opportunity to sole-source without very much transparency. This leads us to the many different examples we have seen over the course of time of removing the transparency, accountability and connection to Parliament to be able to scrutinize things as thoroughly as possible. My question for the member is, why are the Liberals removing the transparency and guardrails around the sole-sourcing of contracts at a time when we need more?