Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to question O563-12(2), asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell on June 18, 1992, concerning the catering services contract for Thebacha Campus. Arctic College treated the bid for the contract for Thebacha Campus cafeteria food services as a request for proposals rather than a tender. The college issued an advertisement the same day that the bid documents were made available. The documents were prepared according to the procedures for a request for proposals, which allows them to be evaluated on several criteria. The college determined that these procedures would allow a better evaluation of the bids for the cafeteria food services contract.
A request for proposals does not contain an overall price. As a result, the bid prices for the components of the cafeteria food services contract were not announced. The names of the bidders were announced and recorded at the opening of the bids on June 2, 1992.
Later, one of the bidders complained that all bidders should have been informed of the bid prices. Arctic College reassessed the criteria contained in the documents. The college decided the criteria only determined the eligibility of the bidders and that the decision on the contract would be based on price. A letter announcing the per-meal bid prices is being sent today to all the bidders.