Public Procurement

• What are the anticipated effects of CETA on the federal, provincial and municipal levels of Canadian government?
• How will CETA impact the bid complaint process at the provincial level?
• Strategies for the MASH sector to overcome the anticipated significant administrative costs and litigation risks arising from:
  • expanding the scope of procurement practices
  • reporting upon, accounting for and defending procurement choices
  • compensating unsuccessful bidders where CETA procedures are not strictly observed
• Weighing the practical benefits of moving away from buy local policies
• Critical new developments under other key trade agreements, including NAFTA, AIT, WTO and their implications to the public procurement process
• Addressing factors known to create ethical challenges in using foreign suppliers
• Managing special considerations in the Asia-Pacific gateway
  

Climate Change and GHG (Carbon) emissions and regulations are increasingly taking a more central place on government agendas. Learn award decision making best practices from the University of Victoria to introduce, develop and effectively use carbon-omics in your value analysis and bid award decisions.

• Guidelines to choose and implement the methodology or protocol to monitor your GHG emissions-reducing activity best suited to your organization
• What are the key performance indicators to perform effective value analysis?
• Incorporating the cost factor associated with GHG emissions in transportation and energy consumption
  

Managing Procurement Challenges in Canada-U.S. Trade

• Managing anticipated challenges by the proposed renewal of Buy American provisions
  • What operational changes are necessary now to transition into the new regime?
  • How will Canadian suppliers be affected by changes in access to sub-federal procurement?
  • Navigating anticipated tactics of U.S. suppliers: What can be done at the provincial level to guard against the effects of the anticipated changes?

Clearing Domestic Trade Hurdles

• Inter-provincial agreements: Eastern Update
  • Grappling with developments in energy, e-Health and green procurement in Ontario
  • Understanding how the overhaul of the New Brunswick Public Purchasing Act and the anticipated new Nova Scotia procurement legislation will affect procurement in those provinces
  • How can the provinces collaborate to secure larger federal government infrastructure money
  • What lessons can be learned from the BC and Nova Scotia bids for the lucrative federal shipbuilding contract?
    
    

The new business registry system currently in place between British Columbia and Alberta will be extended to Saskatchewan by July 1, 2012. This session will equip you with the tools necessary to optimize the lowered procurement thresholds, to meet your obligations in a multi-Agreement environment; and to understand the new protest mechanism, which is unprecedented for NWPTA and has been long anticipated. Learn from both the perspective of government on how to guard against breaches, and from vendors on how to address concerns or raise objections about specific procurements.

• How to respond to objections raised against your procurement practice under NWPTA
  • What is the status of the protest mechanism and when can vendors expect its implementation?
• Overview of the underlying principles, including:
  • Who and what is covered by the NWPTA procurement provisions?
  • What are the procurement thresholds?
  • What should be considered when calculating procurement value?
  • Identifying and adopting the exceptions to and exclusions from the NWPTA
• Practical implementation strategies to ensure regulatory compliance
• Securing the best vendors and suppliers: How does the NWPTA affect preferential purchasing policies?
• Managing the overlapping requirements between the NWPTA, NAFTA, IAT, WTO and inter-provincial trade agreements
• Facilitating communication between departments to reduce wasted time and effort

• Close Up: In depth examination of the essential similarities and contrasts in an RFP versus a Tender
  • What are the mandatory requirements in every RFP?
  • At what critical stage do RFPs cross into Tender territory and strategies to avoid confusion?
  • What are the implications of poor drafting and triggering the tendering rules?
• What are the practical implications of the Supreme Court’s analysis of Contract A “hallmarks” as opposed to labels?
  • Moving beyond Tercon
• Key questions the tendering authority must ask in amending terms and reviewing multiple bids
  

Good project management contains costs and mitigates risks contributing to the successful delivery of program objectives. In this session, you will learn the hallmarks of a proven organizational structure and gain solid footing on the path to a clear competitive advantage.

• What is on the horizon for the Treasury Board’s government Contracting Policy?
• Understanding the key differences between contract management and contract administration
• Clearly identifying the roles and responsibilities of key players to increase operational efficiencies at the outset
• Leveraging advancing technologies to secure leading systems that excel in storing templates, tracking compliance with, and performance against, contracts and providing reminders for time sensitive matters
• Creating your shopping list to secure the best formalized system to track and rate suppliers
• Optimizing proven techniques and Key Performance Indicators to rate performance
• Best practices in file close-out procedures

Close Up: Integrating E-Procurement Strategies into Your Contract Management System

• Making sense of how your colleagues are using the new developments to streamline their procurement process
  by reducing unnecessary cost and eliminating inefficiencies

Good project management contains costs and mitigates risks contributing to the successful delivery of program objectives. In this session, you will learn the hallmarks of a proven organizational structure and gain solid footing on the path to a clear competitive advantage.

• What is on the horizon for the Treasury Board’s government Contracting Policy?
• Understanding the key differences between contract management and contract administration
• Clearly identifying the roles and responsibilities of key players to increase operational efficiencies at the outset
• Leveraging advancing technologies to secure leading systems that excel in storing templates, tracking compliance with, and performance against, contracts and providing reminders for time sensitive matters
• Creating your shopping list to secure the best formalized system to track and rate suppliers
• Optimizing proven techniques and Key Performance Indicators to rate performance
• Best practices in file close-out procedures

Close Up: Integrating E-Procurement Strategies into Your Contract Management System

• Making sense of how your colleagues are using the new developments to streamline their procurement process
  by reducing unnecessary cost and eliminating inefficiencies

Good project management contains costs and mitigates risks contributing to the successful delivery of program objectives. In this session, you will learn the hallmarks of a proven organizational structure and gain solid footing on the path to a clear competitive advantage.

• What is on the horizon for the Treasury Board’s government Contracting Policy?
• Understanding the key differences between contract management and contract administration
• Clearly identifying the roles and responsibilities of key players to increase operational efficiencies at the outset
• Leveraging advancing technologies to secure leading systems that excel in storing templates, tracking compliance with, and performance against, contracts and providing reminders for time sensitive matters
• Creating your shopping list to secure the best formalized system to track and rate suppliers
• Optimizing proven techniques and Key Performance Indicators to rate performance
• Best practices in file close-out procedures

Close Up: Integrating E-Procurement Strategies into Your Contract Management System

• Making sense of how your colleagues are using the new developments to streamline their procurement process
  by reducing unnecessary cost and eliminating inefficiencies

Proven strategies to establish a viable evaluation framework while respecting and protecting the trilogy principles of openness, fairness and transparency

• Developing internal policies to satisfy the trend towards heightened scrutiny of the trilogy principles
• Integrating best practices from the beginning of the process:
  • Timely management of all the players in a multi-stakeholder environment
  • Meeting the needs of private sector clients while respecting and protecting the principles of fairness, transparency and accountability
• Concrete examples of criteria that is clear and fair to bidders: Seamlessly integrating solid strategies that work into your evaluation arsenal
• Benchmarking your quantification practices
  

• Winning strategies before the CITT
  • Guidelines on preparing for the hearing to increase your chances of success
• Implications of recent case law on procurement practices, in the courts and at the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, including:
  • Canada (Attorney General) v. Enterasys Networks of Canada: When is it permissible for a procurement tender for the supply of products to the Canadian federal government to specify the products by brand name?

• Rating the conduct of suppliers and contractors to make sustainable choices without breaking the bank
• Evaluating the real impact of Metro Vancouver's (MV) Sustainable Procurement Procedures across financial, environmental and social indices
  • How MV practices green procurement
  • Understanding the differences between MV's Green Procurement practices and their Sustainable Procurement practices
  • Lessons MV learned over time with regards to their green and sustainable procurement initiatives
• Leveraging the public domain to assist with policing
• Learning from EcoLogo’s technical expertise in sustainability planning and identifying environmental leadership products and services
  • How to effectively leverage business analysis, strategic planning, decision analysis, stakeholder consultation and program development and evaluation to get positive results
  • What are the real benefits of strong community building and facilitation skills?

Aboriginal Human Resource Council

• Building a business case to support increased sourcing from Aboriginal suppliers
• How to seek out and build relationships with Aboriginal communities and vendors:
  • Who to contact: Identifying contacts, setting up and building your network
  • How to approach Aboriginal groups: Clearing the social and cultural hurdles
• Reviewing existing procurement strategies to remove potential barriers to Aboriginal businesses
• What is on the horizon by the AHRC for the Aboriginal Procurement Program
• Leveraging the public domain to assist with policing
  

• Aboriginal Contract & Procurement Policy - eligibility and flexible procurement practices.
• Aboriginal Procurement Strategy – current strategies to support economic opportunities for Aboriginal communities
• Aboriginal Business Directory – sourcing Aboriginal businesses for both direct and indirect contract opportunities
• Aboriginal procurement best practices and lessons learned

• Aboriginal Contract & Procurement Policy - eligibility and flexible procurement practices.
• Aboriginal Procurement Strategy – current strategies to support economic opportunities for Aboriginal communities
• Aboriginal Business Directory – sourcing Aboriginal businesses for both direct and indirect contract opportunities
• Aboriginal procurement best practices and lessons learned

The Government of Canada has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of State on the implementation process for the amended International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which is expected to reduce obstacles for Canadian companies registered in the Controlled Goods Program for their dual-national employees accessing ITAR-controlled articles in competing for lucrative aerospace and defence-related contracts. In this session, you will learn the impact of the amendments on Canadian business and Canada’s defence and economic relationships with the U.S.

• Why the new International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) dual national rule was so important to Canada
• Understanding the implications of Canada’s implementation of the new ITAR dual national rule
• Practical overview of Canada’s enhanced Controlled Goods Program
• Practical considerations for designing and implementing a best practices ITAR - Controlled Goods compliance program