Procurement Ombudsman continues his call for increased fairness, openness and transparency in public procurement

OTTAWA, Oct. 29, 2013 /CNW/ - Federal Procurement Ombudsman Frank Brunetta has released his 2012-13 Annual Report, which summarizes his office's activities over the past year and identifies key issues in federal procurement. This Annual Report was tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, the Honourable Diane Finley.

In his Annual Report message, the Ombudsman highlights three issues brought to his attention by suppliers: the rejection of bids for seemingly insignificant administrative reasons; shortcomings in supplier debriefings; and challenges with the process for obtaining security clearances. On the first issue, the Ombudsman stated: "I am hearing growing support for a more reasoned and balanced government-wide approach to replace the current binary 'all or nothing' treatment of bid evaluation." With regard to supplier debriefings, he added: "Many suppliers who have invested time and money in preparing their bid consider being given the opportunity to understand the shortcomings of their bid not only a good business practice, but the right thing to do." Finally, the Ombudsman highlighted concerns raised by Canadian businesses with regard to obtaining security clearances and the resulting impact of limiting the pool of firms supplying the federal government to those already doing business with departments.

The Annual Report also noted the Procurement Ombudsman's focus on raising awareness of the Office's mandate and services. This past year the Office doubled its number of outreach activities. In addition, the Office addressed more than 350 contacts from clients and stakeholders.

Created in 2008 pursuant to the Federal Accountability Act, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) is an independent organization with a government-wide mandate to promote fairness, openness and transparency in federal procurement.

This report can be found on OPO's Website at www.opo-boa.gc.ca.

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SOURCE: Office of the Procurement Ombudsman

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