Mr. Speaker, improving procurement services is helping the Government of the Northwest Territories achieve this Assembly’s goal of more effective and efficient government. By strengthening our procurement practices, we are making sure that local businesses can benefit from government contracting opportunities and that our high standards of fiscal responsibility are maintained.
On April 1st the Procurement Shared Services
Centre in the Department of Public Works and Services began operating government-wide in order to better support these goals.
Government-wide operations followed the successful launch of the centre in Yellowknife in June 2013. The centre brought together a team of professionals who were previously located in individual departments. This has made it possible for the GNWT to maximize and build upon the skills of its employees while also providing a more efficient, consistent and transparent procurement experience for the business community. The centre is positioned to focus on procuring goods and services at reasonable prices while considering key environmental and social benefits such as worker health and safety, energy efficiency, minimal packaging, or other sustainability aspects over the entire lifecycle of the product or service.
An important part of this initiative is bringing procurement support to the regions in order to better meet the needs of our departments and the local business community throughout the territory. As of April 1st , the Procurement Shared Services
Centre has consolidated tender desks operating in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Inuvik that are responsible for the distribution and receipt of all government tenders, including construction.
In addition to consolidated tender desks, new fully dedicated procurement positions have been established in these communities as well. These regional positions have created employment and training opportunities for new and current regional employees. With the support of the entire Procurement Shared Services Centre team, these employees are handling all procurements of goods and services estimated to exceed $5,000 in value on behalf of our GNWT departments and the NWT Housing Corporation, excluding contracts for construction.
To give Members an idea of the volume of work being undertaken by the Procurement Shared Services Centre, over 900 procurement service requests have been received with 710 contracts awarded for a total value of $79.2 million along with 289 tender and RFP documents being handled by the consolidated tender desks on behalf of our clients.
Mr. Speaker, GNWT staff in other departments also benefit by being freed up to focus on program delivery, while our dedicated procurement offices offer a consistent single-window location for the business community to access tender and contracting opportunities with our government.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 34(6) so that all Ministers’ statements filed with the Clerk can be delivered today.
---Unanimous consent granted