Mr. Chairman, this is a negotiated contract. Negotiated contracts are a little more stringent than the tendering process. In most cases negotiated contracts ensure that there is local involvement, there is local hire, and there is local preference. In regard to those negotiated contracts, before the negotiated contract is approved by Cabinet, those aspects have to be part of a negotiated contract. So for this government to say, “Well, sorry; we don’t have that” or “We don’t know...” In order for Cabinet to approve a negotiated contract, there are certain obligations that the contractor has to meet in order to be able to have a negotiated contract signed off.
I’d like to know exactly the elements of the negotiated contract. A $100 million capital project, by way of a negotiated contract, the biggest one in this government’s history, can go by the books and not allow for that process to happen? I find it kind of
odd that this government has approved a $100
million contract without following the
negotiated contracting policy and guidelines. I’d like to know exactly why, in this case, that policy was not followed.