For Immediate Release
Procurement Plan Announced by Province
The Province announced today its strategy to improve local procurement practices through the new Procurement Transformation Action Plan. The Plan involves the implementation of thirteen actions meant to improve government’s and Crown sector procurement.
“We are glad to see that SaskBuilds has developed a Plan which, when implemented, will address numerous concerns rural municipalities have regarding current procurement practices”, said SARM President Ray Orb. “The potential benefits stemming from the Plan are countless”.
The Plan is based on information gathered by the Province during its consultations with over 140 stakeholders including SARM. “We are particularly excited to see that best value decision-making will be standardized across governments with the implementation of the Plan”, said President Orb. “This change in practice would allow municipalities to award contracts based on the quality of materials used and contractor performance, for example, rather than simply the lowest price”.
Among other actions, a consistent evaluation model will be developed to evaluate vendors and the results will be used in future competitions. “We hope that we can strategize on how to involve municipalities in this process”, said Orb. “Municipalities could really benefit from having access to information about contractors provided by other municipalities, government and the Crowns when reviewing bids”.
The Plan also contains an educational component that would see the creation of a virtual centre of excellence to support employee procurement training and provide access to improved templates to assist with procurement. “We look forward to improvements that are expected through the Procurement Transformation Action Plan and will work with the Government to ensure the related concerns of Members are addressed”, concluded President Orb.
For more information contact:Jay MeyerExecutive Director(306) 761-3720
