Mandate
The specific mandate of the Ombudsman, set out in s. 22.1(3) and 22.1(4) of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, is to:
"(a) review the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make any appropriate recommendations to the relevant department for the improvement of those practices;
"(b) review any complaint respecting the compliance with any regulations made under the Financial Administration Act of the award of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department to which the Agreement, as defined in section 2 of the Agreement on Internal Trade Implementation Act, would apply if the value of the contract were not less than the amount referred to in article 502 of that Agreement;
"(c) review any complaint respecting the administration of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department; and
"(d) ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, on request of each party to such a contract."
"The Procurement Ombudsman shall also perform any other duty or function respecting the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services that may be assigned to the Procurement Ombudsman by order of the Governor in Council or the Minister."
The Federal Accountability Act provided for the appointment of the Procurement Ombudsman, who operates at arm's length from government to promote fairness, openness and transparency in federal procurement processes.
FAIRNESS: Providing equal treatment to all current and potential suppliers
OPENNESS: Providing to all potential suppliers the opportunity to submit bids for government procurement
TRANSPARENCY: Providing information to Canadians in a timely manner that facilitates public scrutiny of the decisions made and actions undertaken.
"Applying the legislation that created us and the Regulations that guide us, we are here to work with all of the stakeholders in federal procurement, using whatever approach is best suited to the circumstances, to make federal procurement better for all stakeholders."
– Shahid Minto
This is our inherent mandate: we are here to help.
- Date modified: