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The following statement was issued today by Beaton Tulk, Government House leader, on behalf of Julie Bettney, Minister of Works, Services and Transportation. It was also read in the House of Assembly: Yesterday, the Honourable Member for St. John's South raised a question about the awarding of a tender for the refurbishing of buses owned by the St. John's Transportation Commission, to a company located outside the province. The member referenced the Provincial Preference Act, suggesting that a local company, East Coast Fleet Repair, should have won the tender. I committed to look into the matter and report back to the House. On behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Works, Services and Transportation, I am doing that today. There is a very specific preference policy in place under the Provincial Preference Act. It is intended to give companies located in this province an advantage in bidding for work under tenders issued by any government body or agency in the province. The advantage is based on a calculation which is comprised of a Provincial Overhead Allowance number, the local labour content, and the local materials content of the bid. This local content information must be supplied as part of the bid, before the tender is opened, if the company wishes to avail of local preference. These preference rules have been in place for many years, and are generally well understood by the supplier community. As in any bid on a tender call, it is the responsibility of the bidder to fully understand the terms and conditions of the tender call, and to comply with the applicable legislation. It is by this means that the fairness of the bidding process is maintained. The bidder must come to know these things before placing the bid, and not afterwards, as was evidently the case here. I have checked with officials who administer the Provincial Preference Act and other public tender legislation, and they have advised me of a number of factors relative to the bid of East Coast Fleet Repair. First, this company did not consult government officials with respect to the local preference requirements of the tender call before the tender closed. Second, in a legal opinion, the Department of Justice advised that, once the bids are opened, it is not possible for a bidder to re-submit on any part of the bid, including the local content portions. Third, the legal opinion stated that the sort of labour referred to in the tender call - refurbishing buses - may not, in any event, be within the spirit or intent of the "provincial labour content" as it is defined in the rgulations under the Provincial Preference Act. The owner of East Coast Fleet Repair, Mr. Stamp, is quoted in the newspaper as saying his failure to understand the rules of provincial preference cost him the contract. This is an unfortunate turn of events for him. However, I would reiterate that there is no way that changes to the bid submission may be made after the tender closing time. The Provincial Preference Act helps businesses compete for work in the province. But it is essential that suppliers be aware of the requirements of the act. Officials are more than willing to assist suppliers in this regard, but the onus is on suppliers to request relevant information.
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