Interim Procurement Ombudsman releases his 2015-2016 annual report

OTTAWA, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - Federal Interim Procurement Ombudsman Lorenzo Ieraci released his Annual Report for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, which was tabled yesterday in Parliament by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the Honourable Judy Foote.

The report summarizes the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman's activities in 2015-2016, identifies key issues in federal procurement and outlines the most common feedback received by suppliers. The Interim Procurement Ombudsman highlighted two supplier issues in his message to the Minister, namely the frustration on the part of new companies trying to sell to federal organizations, and concerns from sub-contractors related to the procurement practices of prime contractors.

Highlights of Activities
At the closing of the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman had:

• Received 52 written complaints, the highest in a single fiscal year.
• Completed 7 reviews of supplier complaints, a high-water mark for the Office.
• Received the highest number of requests for dispute resolution services within a fiscal year, including its first from a federal department, and helped resolve the disputes in all instances where departments agreed to collaborate.
• Launched two procurement practice reviews (on bid evaluation processes and on non-competitive contracting).

Background Information
The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman is an arm's-length organization with a government-wide mandate to promote fairness, openness and transparency in federal procurement. The Office provides an avenue to address procurement-related issues and disputes both to Canadian businesses selling goods and services to the federal government and government officials purchasing those goods and services.

The Procurement Ombudsman is a governor-in-council appointee who reports to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement. The Ombudsman operate independently from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).  As such, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman has a legal mandate which is separate from that of PSPC.

The Procurement Ombudsman's mandate is to:

• Review any complaint with respect to the award of a contract for the acquisition of goods below $25,000 and services below $100,000;
• Review any complaint with respect to the administration of a contract, regardless of dollar value;
• Review the practices of departments for acquiring goods and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make recommendations to improve those practices; and
• Ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, if requested and agreed to by both parties.

The 2015-2016 Annual Report can be found on OPO's Website at www.opo-boa.gc.ca.

SOURCE Office of the Procurement Ombudsman

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