By Michael Joel-Hansen

Wyant talks local tenders and hears concerns

Dec 18, 2018 | 3:46 PM

The Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted a special guest at a luncheon Tuesday afternoon.

Deputy Premier Gord Wyant was in Prince Albert where he spoke to members of the local business group about government procurement.

Specifically, Wyant, who also serves as the minister responsible for SaskBuilds and Priority Saskatchewan spoke about how the government is looking to move to a single procurement service, which will be responsible for acquiring the nearly $2 billion in goods and services bought by the province every year.

“Historically, government procurement has operated in silos, [and] has failed to focus on value and far too often has left Saskatchewan suppliers, some of whom are offering home-grown solutions, unable to compete with larger out of province operations,” said Wyant while making his remarks to the room.

After Wyant was finished speaking the floor was opened up for questions. The first question came from a man representing a local firm who was curious about whether the new procurement policies would include a specific points rating system for Saskatchewan contractors when they bid on a contract.

SIGA

SIGA and Northern Lights Casino main sponsors of the 31st PAGC Fine Arts Festival

14h ago

Workplace incident

City of Prince Albert pleads guilty to workplace safety violation, handed fines

16h ago

Lighting it up

P.A.'s Zablocki leads Regina to victory on Day 4 at Esso Cup

Apr 24, 2024

Wyant said any procurement policies would have to abide by and take into account interprovincial and international trade agreements.

“There are things that can be put into these requests for proposals that can give an advantage to a local supplier without calling it local preference,” said Wyant.

Wyant said local knowledge can be helpful for local companies when they are looking to win a tender.

“A lot of companies in this province will have local knowledge that other contractors coming from other parts of the country wouldn’t have, that gives them a little bit of a benefit,” he said.

According to Wyant, other provinces such as Ontario and Quebec have similar policies in place in when it comes to public procurement.

“It hasn’t been fully determined, in terms of what that looks like,” Wyant said.

Another contractor asked Wyant about issues surrounding scheduling, specifically that some contractors submit schedules where times cannot be met. Wyant said the government is working to engage with the industry on concerns from contractors, while also working with senior levels of government to allow for more notice in advance of upcoming projects.

“We obviously need to do a lot more work on this,” he said.

Overall, Wyant said having the chance to speak with groups like the P.A. Chamber is important when it comes to getting the word out about what is going on to those in the industry to get the conversation going.

“Most of the people in this room will have representatives … have an industry group that represents them,” he said.

.@GordWyant with @SKGov spoke to @ChamberPA members about reforms in terms of govt procurement and how the govt is trying to help local contractors get in on some large contracts #skpoli pic.twitter.com/6hXgStUJu8

— Michael Joel-Hansen (@mjhskcdn) December 18, 2018

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn