Mr. Speaker, I am in receipt of Return to Written Question 38-15(3), asked by Ms. Lee to the Honourable Floyd Roland, Minister of Public Works and Services, regarding guidelines and processes for sole source and negotiated contracts.
Government contract regulations specify that a sole source contract can only be used if:
- (a) the goods, services or construction are urgently required and delay would be injurious to the public interest;
- (b) only one party is available and capable of performing the contract; and,
- (c) the contract is an architectural or engineering contract that will not exceed $25,000 in value or is any other type of contract that will not exceed $1,000 in value.
When awarding all sole source contracts, due diligence is exercised to ensure that the best possible product is purchased. In the case of an award based on the "only one party" criteria, the contract authority must use their judgment in determining that only one party is available and capable of providing the good or service. This will vary from situation to situation.
In the case of the family law clinic, a public request for proposals was issued on August 9th and closed August 27, 2004. The request for proposals was publicly advertised in l'Aquilon and News/North newspapers and on the GNWT contracts website. Yellowknife landlords had ample opportunity to provide proposals, and those that did were considered.
Following cancellation of the unsuccessful proposal call, a decision was made to negotiate a sole source contract with the one developer that declared that they had suitable space. The decision was justified by the poor response to the public call for proposals, which confirmed the department's understanding that there is very little available office space with the features required in downtown Yellowknife