Thank you, Mr. Chair. A procurement advisory panel, I think, is an excellent way to ensure that all stakeholders engaged in the procurement process are at the table and able to provide some degree of oversight advice and recommendations to government on how to improve procurement.
As Members of this Assembly, we are not always subject matter experts, and it is always, I think, prudent to give subject matter experts an opportunity, and who better to lead than procurement experts, industry, and public servants, as well, who are all involved in the system.
This idea is not a new concept. It exists in our neighbouring territory of the Yukon. In the Yukon, it began as a temporary committee; it only had a limited lifespan. The idea was, "Give us some recommendations; we'll make some fixes, and then your time is done." That panel was so useful to the Yukon government in improving procurement that it became a permanent panel. This motion contemplates skipping a pilot, if you will, and just going to establishing a full panel.
I think that there is a lot of merit to this, especially if they do have a very clear terms of reference so that they are not waiting. It doesn't become a dispute panel or politicized in any way. It is just focused on very clear advice on how we can make things better, and independent advice, which I think is a really important piece here. We have heard, in the debate on these issues over the years, that the real issue is not the procurement system needs some improvement. It's that contractors don't understand how it works, so as long as we do a trade show or workshop and teach people how to interact with government, we will solve all of our problems, and I don't think that that is correct. I think that that is only part of the equation. There is much more to this.
To really get at the meat of it, I don't think that one motion on the floor of the House is going to fix that, but a panel that exists permanently and can make these kinds of ongoing recommendations over the years, that is where we can start finding these solutions, at arm's-length, with full independence, and providing that kind of fearless advice to the Minister and the government on how these things can improve.
I think that this is an excellent step forward, and I thank the committee for bringing it forward. I do support this motion. Thank you.