Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say I was done with MACA on this matter. Unfortunately, the answers are still very disappointing. There’s just continual doublespeak on the result and on where this project is going.
Mr. Speaker, I have a list here of contracts, and the Abbotsford company, the B.C. company I keep referring to — I’m not using their name; I know how that makes people edgy here, so I’m avoiding their actual specific name — did give a proposal for $22,500, and it was a contract to develop a proposal for a water facility.
So could the MACA Minister explain to this House — in good conscience and clarity — of course, how this demonstrates that they did not have an unfair or competitive advantage ahead of any other group applying in this RFP process for the water treatment plant project?
Mr. Speaker, all the work that was done leading up to this contract, going to a request for proposals, was made available to all the proponents. In addition, we put in place a two-stage process to ensure due diligence. We had the use of an external party to chair the evaluation on both the request for qualifications and the request for proposals. That position would equate to what would be referred to as a fairness commissioner. Mr. Speaker, we also involved FMBS and Public Works, and we sought legal advice from the Department of Justice.
Well, Mr. Speaker, that was the best answer I’ve heard all day from this Minister on this project. I’m really glad to hear that maybe he’s coming around to wanting to actually discuss this.
So, Mr. Speaker, the fact is that I want to make absolutely clear, even to the Member on this side of the House for Mackenzie Delta, that I’m not against the project in any way; it’s the process, Mr. Speaker.
I still have concerns that the process is not fair, because I would be surprised that anyone applying through this RFP process was made aware that “By the way, one of your competitors actually wrote all the documentation for this RFP.”
So, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to hear today how this Minister will assure this House on transparency and fairness. Will he, before officially awarding this contract, allow and set up some process to ensure that it is completely fair, unfettered by that Abbotsford, B.C., contractor, with a fair process to everyone? Will he assure this House that he will go through that, hire someone to go through these clients to make sure they did not have an unfair, uncompetitive advantage ahead of the Northern group based in Inuvik?
Mr. Speaker, it’s not a matter of coming around to discuss and provide information. This contract procurement is still in the process. I’m very reluctant to speak to something that has ongoing negotiations.
We’ve done exactly as the Member suggested: we have hired an outside party to ensure that fairness of procedure and practice is followed. I would be glad to offer that to the Member once the contract is awarded, to provide a full briefing so that he can see how this contract unfolded and how it was evaluated. We have a process where I have to respond and go to my cabinet colleagues before any decisions are made. So I think all the different questions that were in the one question have been answered.
Mr. Speaker, these are financially tight times, as everyone is extremely well aware. I just want to be clear for the record, here. The Abbotsford company doing these water treatment plant projects: were they the cheaper, bottom-line dollar company, or was the Northern firm working out of Inuvik with the Yellowknife group the cheaper one?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking as to the contract details, and I can’t provide that at this time.
Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I’ll respect that, because his letter, that I’m not allowed to quote and which will be tabled later, will help clarify that question officially.
So my last question for the Minister is around the context of what if this Northern firm isn’t hypothetically the one we’re negotiating with, although everyone knows it’s not the group we’re negotiating with. What’s to assure us that some undue process wasn’t happening here, and is the Minister prepared to reimburse that Northern company that spent all that time trying to build a proposal that was actually unofficially awarded already?
Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure what the Member is asking me. I’m not clear on the question. All I can say is that this process has a number of checks and balances put in place so we ensure that there’s fairness and so that we can explain the fairness.
Obviously, the Member has been contacted by one of the proponents. We have not even debriefed any of the companies yet. I would ask that the process continue to move forward, that we talk to the company who has obviously contacted the Member and show where maybe the proposal was not quite up to what was expected or where he could improve, or whatever the case may be. To talk about compensation at this point is not something I want to enter into.
