Discussion · Government Orders
Ryan Turnbull Liberal
“I want to correct the facts. Of the 60 guards hired, 33 were former commissionaires and 12 had served in uniform. Competition helps us get the best value for contracts. Under our rules, a business counts as Canadian if it employs people here, and this company has 10,000 workers in Canada. The tax agency looked at quality, risk, and jobs, and it stands by this decision.”
“Madam Speaker, just to correct the record, I said that, of the 60 security guards hired through that particular contract, 33 of them were former commissionaires while 12 of those served in uniform previously. Not all commissionaires served in uniform, apparently, from what I have been told. That is just to clarify for the member opposite what I said, to be factually correct. As to the member’s question about the procurement process, I think we would probably all agree that competition within procurement is a positive thing. A best value approach is probably the best way to evaluate procurement contracts. I will note that, within the buy Canadian policy, we have defined Canadian companies as not being determined by ownership criteria, but rather by the number of employment opportunities in Canada. This particular organization has 10,000 employees in Canada, so it did qualify under those criteria. Members need to understand that the best value of this contract was weighed between a number of different factors, and this is the decision the CRA made. It stands by that decision. Even though I know it is hard for us and members opposite to accept that decision, it was the one determined to be in the best value, which is a balance of all the different criteria, as I mentioned, of quality, risk, employment and other factors within that procurement process.”
Madam Speaker, just to correct the record, I said that, of the 60 security guards hired through that particular contract, 33 of them were former commissionaires while 12 of those served in uniform previously. Not all commissionaires served in uniform, apparently, from what I have been told. That is just to clarify for the member opposite what I said, to be factually correct. As to the member’s question about the procurement process, I think we would probably all agree that competition within procurement is a positive thing. A best value approach is probably the best way to evaluate procurement contracts. I will note that, within the buy Canadian policy, we have defined Canadian companies as not being determined by ownership criteria, but rather by the number of employment opportunities in Canada. This particular organization has 10,000 employees in Canada, so it did qualify under those criteria. Members need to understand that the best value of this contract was weighed between a number of different factors, and this is the decision the CRA made. It stands by that decision. Even though I know it is hard for us and members opposite to accept that decision, it was the one determined to be in the best value, which is a balance of all the different criteria, as I mentioned, of quality, risk, employment and other factors within that procurement process.