The Department of Citizenship is under fire for breaching an international treaty in awarding a six-figure contract to a favoured supplier, said Blacklock’s Reporter..Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic said federal department staff knew they were breaching North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules based on e-mails that were uncovered during an audit..“You cannot structure a procurement to avoid obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement,” wrote Jeglic..The names of the supplier and federal manager who suggested skirting the rules were not disclosed..Within a two-year period from 2018-2020, the Department of Citizenship approved 5,620 contracts worth over $332.7 million..The breach was discovered during a routine audit in which Jeglic’s office examined 40 contracts at random..One contract involved attempts to cheat NAFTA rules requiring open bidding on service contracts worth more than $108,400..A “requirement for a social media analytics subscription was initially contemplated as a five-year contract with an estimated value of approximately $350,000,” said Jeglic’s report. .“E-mails on the file indicate the department adjusted the requirement so as to avoid NAFTA. Upon receipt of the purchase order, the contracting officer advised the technical authority that due to the estimated value, the requirement is subject to NAFTA and must be openly competed,” wrote Jeglic..An e-mail response from the technical authority stated, “this is a situation we want to avoid especially, since as we mentioned, the funding isn’t even indeterminate so we are happy to scale back the option years in order to stay under that limit. At what dollar value are we subject to NAFTA?”.Jeglic said the contracting officer “correctly” advised the technical authority of the risks of creating a “perception of contract splitting” by awarding a contract for one year, then awarding another contract for the same service..“It seems as though trade agreement thresholds are being avoided in order to ensure an expedited procurement process,” said Jeglic in his report..“The contract was structured as a one-year contract with a one-year option, the total value falling below the NAFTA threshold,” the report concluded..Other faults were found with other contracts, including one where an officer called a contractor to discuss a bid while phone calls with bidders during the solicitation period “should be avoided,” said the report..Another case saw the department requiring bidders to be “experienced,” but did not state the number of years of experience required..“As little as one day of experience would have resulted in the criterion being met,” wrote Jeglic..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
The Department of Citizenship is under fire for breaching an international treaty in awarding a six-figure contract to a favoured supplier, said Blacklock’s Reporter..Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic said federal department staff knew they were breaching North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules based on e-mails that were uncovered during an audit..“You cannot structure a procurement to avoid obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement,” wrote Jeglic..The names of the supplier and federal manager who suggested skirting the rules were not disclosed..Within a two-year period from 2018-2020, the Department of Citizenship approved 5,620 contracts worth over $332.7 million..The breach was discovered during a routine audit in which Jeglic’s office examined 40 contracts at random..One contract involved attempts to cheat NAFTA rules requiring open bidding on service contracts worth more than $108,400..A “requirement for a social media analytics subscription was initially contemplated as a five-year contract with an estimated value of approximately $350,000,” said Jeglic’s report. .“E-mails on the file indicate the department adjusted the requirement so as to avoid NAFTA. Upon receipt of the purchase order, the contracting officer advised the technical authority that due to the estimated value, the requirement is subject to NAFTA and must be openly competed,” wrote Jeglic..An e-mail response from the technical authority stated, “this is a situation we want to avoid especially, since as we mentioned, the funding isn’t even indeterminate so we are happy to scale back the option years in order to stay under that limit. At what dollar value are we subject to NAFTA?”.Jeglic said the contracting officer “correctly” advised the technical authority of the risks of creating a “perception of contract splitting” by awarding a contract for one year, then awarding another contract for the same service..“It seems as though trade agreement thresholds are being avoided in order to ensure an expedited procurement process,” said Jeglic in his report..“The contract was structured as a one-year contract with a one-year option, the total value falling below the NAFTA threshold,” the report concluded..Other faults were found with other contracts, including one where an officer called a contractor to discuss a bid while phone calls with bidders during the solicitation period “should be avoided,” said the report..Another case saw the department requiring bidders to be “experienced,” but did not state the number of years of experience required..“As little as one day of experience would have resulted in the criterion being met,” wrote Jeglic..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
