Minister Abernethy's speaking notes: NWT Chamber of Commerce ...

Oct 18 2012

? Thank you for inviting me here today to speak with you about what the GNWT has planned for the 2013/14 fiscal year.

? The GNWT?s 2013/14 infrastructure budget marks a return to more historic spending levels after delivering unprecedented infrastructure budgets totaling more than $1.1 billion over the previous four years.

? GNWT capital projects moving through the planning, design and construction stages in 2013/14 include Health and Social Services facilities in Fort Providence, Hay River, Behchoko, Norman Wells and Fort Smith along with the new office building here in Yellowknife. There will also be work upgrading our highway and airport systems through the Department of Transportation and housing projects through the NWT Housing Corporation.

? For 2013/14 there will be many other contracting opportunities for mid-sized and small businesses including:
o Small capital projects,
o Capital Asset Retrofit Fund projects for energy upgrading,
o Deferred maintenance projects for our aging infrastructure, and
o Projects managed through regular maintenance programs for buildings, highway and housing programs.

? In addition to the GNWT?s infrastructure programs, there are also significant business opportunities associated with the GNWT?s capital contributions to community governments across the north under the New Deal and the Federal Gas Tax program.

? Public Works and Services and the GNWT strive to create business opportunities through construction projects, spending on operations and maintenance, and the procurement of goods and services in all NWT communities.

? During 2013/14 there will be many contracting opportunities through PWS, DOT and the NWTHC, as well as other government departments, boards and agencies. The vast majority of these opportunities are through competitive tenders or requests for proposals.

? There is always opportunity for the northern business community to work with the GNWT to improve their contracting opportunities.

o For example: From 2009 through to 2012, only about 30% of all government capital construction contracts received three or more bids ? this was especially the case in our smaller more remote communities.

o This means that more than 60% of these contracts were awarded to businesses that were either the only bidder or one of only two bidders.

? We need to work together to find ways to encourage businesses to respond to these opportunities in all regions and communities of the north.

? There are ways businesses can maximize their opportunities in responding to GNWT tenders and proposals:

o Ensure that vendors understand and clearly demonstrate that they meet any mandatory requirements of the tender or request for proposal. We often receive qualified tenders or proposals that don?t meet the mandatory requirements. We usually have to treat these as non-responsive bids. Our contract authorities are always available to help answer questions about the requirements before a contractor submits a bid or proposal.

o Ensure that information about local and northern involvement is complete and clearly identified. Bids and proposals that don?t accurately identify local and northern content don?t receive the full benefit of the Business Incentive Policy. Simply ensuring that you use the address your sub-contractors and suppliers have listed with the BIP Office can make sure you receive full credit under BIP. Contract authorities and staff at the BIP Office can help you understand these requirements.

? Contracting with northern businesses is an essential tool to support the delivery of GNWT programs and services. While the GNWT prefers and encourages a competitive process, the Contract Regulations do permit sole-sourced contracts in limited cases, including:

o The goods or services are urgently required and delay would be injurious to the public interest,

o Only one party is available and capable of performing the work, or

o It is for consulting services or legal services that cannot exceed $25,000.

? The GNWT uses the following tools for advertising contracting opportunities:

o posting tender and RFPs in local and territorial papers;
o through our website; and
o by tendering construction projects through the electronic plans with the NWT Construction Association

? The GNWT also consults with the business community prior to issuing tenders, in particular for new products and services. This helps ensure that there are no barriers facing northern vendors. While this takes a little longer, at times it has led to substantial changes in the way the GNWT structures a tender or RFP in order to ensure that northern businesses could respond.

? Through previous consultation with businesses and industry, the GNWT is aware of the need to improve the vendor experience in a number of areas such as :
o Advertising and basic tender requirements between departments;
o Distribution and receipt of tenders ;
o Tender evaluation and the application of the BIP;
o Posting of contract awards; and
o Vendor debriefing.

? The GNWT is making changes to better respond to these concerns.

? In 2013/14, the GNWT is proceeding with plans to establish a Procurement Shared Services Centre in the department of Public Works and Services. Through this government-wide initiative, we will improve the quality of service delivery, improve information collection and reporting, and ultimately provide our contracting and procurement services in a more consistent manner.

? It is our hope that through this initiative any questions or barriers that industry might have when it comes to doing business with government can be more easily clarified or addressed. Ultimately this could lead to one-stop regional procurement providing greater consistency and oversight on the procurement process.

? To encourage businesses to identify ways we can improve our procurement practices, the GNWT has established an interdepartmental procurement procedures committee and working group under the office of the Comptroller General. The Committee reviews and updates the current guidelines to better reflect the needs of all departments and improve overall consistency in the GNWT?s procurement processes. We expect this will result in a much improved vendor experience.

? In closing I would like to emphasize that there will continue to be construction and business opportunities associated with the delivery of GNWT programs and services in all of communities. We need a healthy and responsive NWT business community and construction industry to supply goods and build our facilities for us. Fostering a strong working relationship between ourselves and the NWT Chamber of Commerce will help us improve our processes, strengthen our partnership and, ultimately, benefit yourselves, the government and the people of the NWT.

? Thank you again for this opportunity; I hope that many of the businesses represented here today will be part of our plans for 2013/14 and will bid on our contracts, and look forward to hearing from you on how we can best achieve our mutual goals.

Source: http://news.exec.gov.nt.ca/minister-abernethys-speaking-notes-nwt-chamber-of-commerce-agm/

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