Louis Sebert

Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation, as most government operations, does have a procurement policy. I can’t speak to what steps were taken to ascertain, in the instant case, the qualities of the bidders. I do know, from what I have read, that they all were well-known bidders in this area, so I assume the Power Corporation took the regular steps in determining that when they reviewed the bids. I don’t have any specific knowledge as to the steps that were taken in this specific case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not know how many times this committee met. I was part of the committee, of course, but it was numerous. Many had different suggestions, and ultimately, we came forward with the report that is before us today. I do not think there is any point referring this matter back to the committee. We spent enough time on it. We need to resolve it. Thank you.

I've not had an opportunity to review the request for proposals. I am confident, however, that all the necessary information is in the request for proposals. I have a competent staff; they spent considerable amount of time preparing this and I am content that the RFP does set out what is required by potential contractors.

I'm not absolutely sure about that. My impression would be that they would be accepting referrals from outside agencies, but I will look into that and get back to the Member opposite.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That information is, in fact, contained in the purchasing policy. The determination as to whether it will go out to the broad public or to sole-source is determined by a series of factors, including price. I know there is a sole-source contract awarded that would depend on factors such as emergency and other factors. There is a policy which the Power Corporation follows.

I imagine that evaluation is done at the time any bid is received. They could certainly look at whether it had past history with this bidder, how the potential bidder had done in other bids, and how they had done with other contractors. I have no idea what exact steps were taken in this case, but I imagine those steps would have been taken.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I can make that commitment. I will keep Members of this house fully appraised as to progress.

As the name would imply, it is dealing with recreational lands. Again, much of the Northwest Territories, there are comprehensive land use plans established by those areas that there are not. These are seen as interim steps.

Yes, I think Members opposite could expect that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I have mentioned earlier, we are looking at the minimum lease changes. Certainly, we have been consulting with Aboriginal and other stakeholders, and I imagine I could provide a list of consultations that have taken place and those that are planned.