The Heat is On

Time to keep it up.

Doer urges Harper to be fair over contracts

Updated Wed. Jan. 24 2007 5:35 PM ET

Canadian Press

WINNIPEG -- Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper not to let "pork-barrel politics'' hijack a contract to build new military cargo planes.

Doer said Wednesday he's surprised and frustrated by a report published this week that says federal Public Works Minister Michel Fortier won't sign the contracts unless Quebec gets most of the benefits.

Doer has the right idea:

Doer says Manitoba and Quebec companies should be able to fairly compete with each other.

"We're not afraid of competition, why is Quebec?''

This deal would normally be subject to the Agreement on Internal Trade, signed by the Federal Government and all the Provinces but the Government invoked a national security clause in order to circumvent the agreement. There may be valid reasons for this, but they should not be in order to "deliver" jobs for a specific region.

Chapter Five — Procurement

Purpose

To ensure equal access to government procurement for all Canadian suppliers — in a transparent and efficient manner — in order to reduce purchasing costs and to contribute to the development of a strong economy.

Obligations

Governments are not permitted to discriminate against suppliers of another province or territory. This includes means such as local price preferences, biased technical specifications, unfair registration requirements or unreasonable time constraints.

Governments must make opportunities known to suppliers through the use of an electronic tendering system, advertising in daily newspapers or the use of source lists. These must be accessible to all Canadian suppliers.

Equal access — in a transparent and efficient manner. Simple, straightforward and necessary. Make it happen.

Cross posted to Blue Blogging Soapbox