Mr. Speaker, businesses across the Northwest Territories spend years building up their capacity to compete in an open market. G.N.W.T. has an obligation to ensure a fair and transparent process for awarding G.N.W.T. contracts.
I don’t agree with the practice of calling for public tenders and cancelling the tender without a justifiable reason. A prime example is the highway maintenance contract for five years on the Dempster Highway. A public tender was put out. Contractors submitted prices as per the scope of work. The contract was then cancelled, re-scoped, and put out more quickly than I’ve ever seen this government do before.
After making some inquiries, I was informed that the prices were higher than budgeted for and bid bonds were wrong — and bid bonds are usually not required for maintenance contracts, just on capital projects. During a meeting with the Minister and the deputy minister, I was informed that the prices were reasonable based on the scope of work.
Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what the contractors based their prices on. They based them on a scope of work that’s given to them by the department. They don’t just pull numbers out of the air. The fact that there was a 2 per cent difference between the two low bids proved that the estimates could have been wrong, and the submitted prices were closer to the actual costs. The contractors submitted prices. They have to make sure that their pencils are sharpened, because this is what they do for a living.
I have heard too many contradictory versions as to why the tender was cancelled. This is causing me and the business community to lose confidence in the department and the direction they are heading. We have too many examples in G.N.W.T. where work is tailored to certain businesses or individuals. I understand that we do have agreements, and I respect that fact, but I also respect the fact that people who compete in an open market need to be protected. This government has an obligation.
I for one, Mr. Speaker, will not stick my head in the sand and wait for all this to pass and just leave it at that. We have to do what we can to not allow this to happen too often. Thank you.
