Will the Federal Accountability Act Really Change How Business is Done in Ottawa?
By Ms. Phuong T. V. Ngo, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP
Ottawa, Ontario - April 12, 2006
What does the Conservative Federal Accountability Act omnibus bill mean to companies who do business with the government? There are some relevant changes that could impact the supplier community:
Access to information requests
The intention to put Crown corporations and foundations under the scrutiny of access to information laws means that bids provided to these corporations could be subject to access to information requests. In the past, some Crown corporations were not subject to the Access to Information Act and documents in their possession were not accessible under the Act.
Code of Conduct for Procurement
The government plans on implementing a Code of Conduct for Procurement. This Code is intended to consolidate the existing suite of conflict-of-interest and anti-corruption policies, which would apply to both suppliers and public-service employees. The Government will engage an independent procurement expert to review the draft policy on managing procurement to ensure that its requirements reinforce a fair, open, and transparent procurement process. It is not known whether this will be a public process, and whether the supplier community will be able to present their comments and suggestions.
Procurement Auditor
A new Procurement Auditor position/appointment will be created by making amendments to the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act. This Auditor can:
- review federal departments’ procurement processes and practices
- review any complaint relating to compliance of a contract award
- review any complaint relating to the administration of a contract
- ensure that alternative dispute resolution is provided at the request of each party to a contract.
A complaint to the Procurement Auditor can only be made after a contract has been awarded. Despite the power to review a department’s procurement, however, the Procurement Auditor will not have the authority to recommend the cancellation of the contract. The Procurement Auditor may make recommendations to the Minister of Public Works, but the legislation does not impose a statutory duty on the Minister to implement any of these recommendations.
This new office does not replace the process bidders have before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal or the Federal Court. One advantage of the Procurement Auditor is that suppliers may complain about the administration of a contract once it has been awarded. Before the introduction of this bill, no independent mechanism existed to complain about contract administration.
