The federal government is moving ahead with a proposed 11-year contract for consultants to manage political appointments, despite ongoing criticism over a lack of transparency and accountability in its procurement system.
Blacklock's Reporter says the Privy Council Office has refused to discuss the confidential terms of the agreement, which follows repeated complaints of sweetheart deals and sole-source contracting.
According to a notice to prospective contractors, the Privy Council is seeking an applicant tracking system that integrates with current and future appointment platforms for the senior personnel secretariat.
“The solution provides a long term, stable and scalable system to support applicant tracking as well as screening and selection of qualified candidates for recommendation for appointments made by the executive branch of government,” aides wrote.
No projected cost was released, and the government declined to disclose details of its limited tendering process. The contract is open only to suppliers qualified under a federal “software as a service” arrangement, and access to proposal documents is restricted to those vendors.
The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of federal contracting.
Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic has repeatedly flagged issues with sole-sourced deals and poor oversight, warning that Canadian federal procurement is lagging behind other countries.
“The system has not improved during my tenure,” Jeglic told the Senate national finance committee last fall. “I am in Year Six going into Year Seven… it’s time to replace the car.”
Jeglic said federal agencies currently spend $25 billion annually on consultants, and pointed to the handling of contracts with McKinsey & Company as symptomatic of deeper problems. The firm received $200.4 million in federal contracts since 2015, raising concerns of favouritism.
“What transpired with McKinsey is a symptom of a broken system,” said Jeglic. “My office has been identifying many of the same issues year after year, report after report.”
While acknowledging he doesn’t have all the answers, Jeglic urged the government to move away from piecemeal fixes. “It is incredibly important to stop applying Band-Aids to the existing system,” he said.