GATINEAU, QC, June 4, 2024
/CNW/ - Today, the Auditor General of Canada presented her report on the Performance
Audit of Professional Services.
I welcome the findings of the Auditor General's report and our
government remains fully committed to fairness, openness and
transparency in federal procurement practices. A rigorous process
is in place to ensure that procurement activities are effective and
well managed.
And with the intention of constantly improving its process, the
government had already accepted the recommendations of previous
studies and continues to implement strong measures to strengthen
and streamline oversight and controls of federal government
management practices in the area of procurement, as announced by
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Treasury
Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) on March
20, 2024. The department achieved a key milestone on
May 31, 2024, with the coming into
force of the Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance and the
revised Ineligibility and Suspension Policy. This will
strengthen the integrity and oversight of the procurement process
and will allow the department to better respond to misconduct and
wrongdoing.
I also welcome the Auditor General's recommendation to further
strengthen measures to appropriately report and monitor potential
conflicts of interest.
TBS recently announced new mandatory procedures as part of the
Directive on the Management of Procurement. The
procedures provide an additional check and balance for public
service managers to ensure that they are clear about their
responsibilities and accountabilities when undertaking professional
services procurement activities related to oversight, conflict of
interest and integrity provisions in the Directive.
In addition, there are important conversations taking place
across the public service to ensure that employees understand their
obligations and duties in alignment with the Values and Ethics Code
for the Public Sector, including requirements related to Conflict
of Interest
The other findings in this report are in line with several
previous internal and external reviews relating to professional
services contracts and other procurements. PSPC and TBS have
instituted several changes and process improvements including but
not limited to implementing a new mandatory professional services
requirement for PSPC and client contracting authorities to retain
contractual decisions, as well as taking steps to change how it
administers non-competitive National Master Standing Offers,
including ensuring justifications are on file and a challenge
function occurs. The position of Chief of the Contract Quality and
Records Compliance Office has been created to ensure that critical
elements of decision-making throughout the procurement process are
properly documented, that guidelines and tools are put in place and
that quality is being actively monitored.
We are committed to protecting the integrity of procurement, and
we expect public servants and departments to operate at the highest
standard and prioritize the optimal use of public
resources for Canadians.
SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada