41

 

First Session, 45th General Assembly

53 Elizabeth II, 2004

BILL 41

AN ACT TO AMEND THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASING AGENCY

Received and Read the First Time

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

HONOURABLE DIANNE WHALEN

Minister of Government Services

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 


EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would continue the Government Purchasing Agency as an independent branch of the public service of the province.  At present the agency is a division of the Department of Government Services.

The Bill would also provide for the replacement of the Central Purchasing Authority by an advisory board appointed by the chief operating officer of the agency.  Joint purchasing for government funded bodies would be the responsibility of the agency.

The Bill would also amend the Public Tender Act to confer on the chief operating officer of the agency the responsibility, presently residing with the Minister of Government Services, for tabling, through the Speaker, the notification required under the Act when a tender is awarded to a person other than the preferred bidder, and when a public work is executed, space is leased or goods and services are acquired in circumstances where a tender is not required.

In addition, the Bill would amend the Public Tender Act to require tender information to be provided by a government funded body to the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency who would then make it public on request.


A BILL

AN ACT RESPECTING THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASING AGENCY

Analysis


        1.   Short title

        2.   Definitions

        3.   Government Purchasing Agency

        4.   Chief operating officer

        5.   Acquisition of goods and services

        6.   Purchases by boards, etc.

        7.   Joint purchasing advisory board

        8.   Auditor general

        9.   Government bound

      10.   RSNL1990 cP-45 Amdt.

      11.   SNL1995 cW-12 Amdt.


Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

Short title

        1. This Act may be cited as the Government Purchasing Agency Act.

Definitions

        2. In this Act

             (a)  "agency" means the Government Purchasing Agency continued under section 3;

             (b)  "amount" means the cost or price of the goods and services, whether that cost or price is fixed or estimated;

             (c)  "auditor general" means the auditor general appointed under the Auditor General Act;

             (d)  "chief operating officer" means the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency appointed under section 4;

             (e)  "goods and services" means

                      (i)  goods, chattels, materials and personal property of every kind, including goods required to be manufactured, or on which or in relation to which a labour or skill is required to be expended before, upon or after delivery to a government funded body,

                     (ii)  the provision of transportation of all kinds,

                    (iii)  printing and other similar reproduction, and

                    (iv)  services as defined in the Public Tender Act;

              (f)  "government funded body" means a government funded body as defined in the Public Tender Act; and

             (g)  "minister" means the minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to administer this Act.

Government Purchasing Agency

        3. (1) The Government Purchasing Agency is continued as a branch of the public service of the province.

             (2)  The agency shall be under the immediate management and control of an officer to be known as the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency.

             (3)  The employees required by the agency to carry out its powers, functions and duties, other than the chief operating officer, shall be appointed in the manner authorized by law.

Chief operating officer

        4. (1) The Lieutenant‑Governor in Council shall appoint a person to be the chief operating officer of the agency.

             (2)  The chief operating officer shall hold office during good behaviour but shall be removed from office by the Lieutenant‑Governor in Council on the passing by the House of Assembly of a resolution requiring the Lieutenant‑Governor in Council to so remove the officer.

             (3)  The salary of the chief operating officer shall not be reduced without the assent of the House of Assembly.

             (4)  The chief operating officer shall report directly to the minister.

             (5)  The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint a person to perform the duties of the chief operating officer in the event of a vacancy in the office of the chief operating officer or during the illness or absence of the chief operating officer and the person so appointed has for those purposes the powers and shall perform all the functions and duties of the chief operating officer.

Acquisition of goods and services

        5. (1) The agency shall acquire by purchase or otherwise all goods and services that are required by the departments of the public service in accordance with the Public Tender Act.

             (2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), the agency may permit the acquisition of goods and services otherwise than through the agency, subject to the Public Tender Act, where the chief operating officer is satisfied that it is in the interest of efficiency to do so, and it may limit its permission to specified goods and services, to an amount, or to certain departments.

             (3)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), the chief operating officer, where satisfied that it is in the interest of efficiency to do so, may delegate to a person in the public service the power to acquire goods and services on behalf of the agency in accordance with the Public Tender Act.

             (4)  Where goods and services are acquired under subsection (2) or (3), the agency shall be advised as soon as is practical and shall be furnished with all details of the acquisition in a form that the chief operating officer may require.

Purchases by boards, etc.

        6. (1) Where the chief operating officer is satisfied that it is in the interest of efficiency to do so, the agency shall acquire, by purchase or otherwise, all goods and services that are required by a government funded body that is not a department of the government and to which government funded body the Lieutenant‑Governor in Council directs that this section shall apply.

             (2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), the agency may, where the chief operating officer is satisfied that it is in the interest of efficiency to do so, permit the acquisition, subject to the Public Tender Act, by a government funded body of specified goods and services to a specified amount.

             (3)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), the chief operating officer, where satisfied that it is in the interest of efficiency to do so, may delegate to a person in the public service the power to acquire goods and services on behalf of the agency in accordance with the Public Tender Act.

             (4)  Where goods and services are purchased under subsection (2) or (3), the agency shall be advised as soon as is practical and shall be furnished with all details of the purchase in a form that the chief operating officer may prescribe.

Joint purchasing advisory board

        7. (1) The chief operating officer may appoint a joint purchasing advisory board consisting of representatives of government funded bodies for the purpose of co-ordinating the purchase of goods and services required by the departments of the government and other government funded bodies.

             (2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Central Purchasing Authority referred to in sections 44 and 45 of the Works, Services and Transportation Act shall continue to operate as if it were a joint purchasing advisory board appointed under subsection (1) until another joint purchasing advisory board is appointed under that subsection.

Auditor general

        8. All records in the possession of the agency shall be made available to the auditor general on the auditor general's request.

Government bound

        9. The government is bound by the actions of the agency and the chief operating officer acting within the scope of authority conferred by this Act.

RSNL1990 cP-45 Amdt.

      10. (1) Section 8 of the Public Tender Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Tender not awarded to preferred bidder

        8. (1) Where tenders are invited in accordance with this Act and it appears to the government funded body inviting the tender not to be expedient to award the contract to the preferred bidder, the head of the government funded body shall report to and obtain the authority of the Lieutenant‑Governor in Council before awarding the contract to a person other than the preferred bidder.

             (2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), a head of a government funded body may, where authorized by the regulations to do so and as prescribed, reject the preferred bidder and award the contract to a person other than the preferred bidder.

             (3)  Where a contract is awarded under this Act by a government funded body to a person other than a preferred bidder, the head of the government funded body shall inform the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency, who shall send a summary of the successful tender together with a report including the reasons why the tender was so awarded, to the Speaker of the House of Assembly for tabling,

             (a)  if the House of Assembly is then in session, within 30 days after receipt of notification of the awarding of the contract by the government funded body; or

             (b)  if the House of Assembly is not then in session, within 30 days from the opening of the next session.

             (4)  This section does not apply where a tender has been invited but in relation to which no contract is awarded.

             (5)  The Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency may review the grounds on which a government funded body awarded a contract to a person other than a preferred bidder, including past practices of the government funded body in making such an award, and may express his or her opinion to the head of the government funded body with respect to the sufficiency of the grounds for awarding the contract to a person other than a preferred bidder.

             (2)  Section 10 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

No tender situations to be tabled

     10. (1) Where a public work is executed or goods or services are acquired or space is leased by a government funded body and a tender is not required to be invited because of paragraph 3(2)(b), (d) or (e), (i) or (j), 4(1)(b) or (d) or subsection 4(4) or (5), the head of the government funded body shall inform the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency of the public work or goods or services or lease and the Chief Operating Officer shall send a report indicating the public works so executed or the goods or services so acquired or the space so leased and the reasons why the tender was not invited, to the Speaker of the House of Assembly for tabling,

             (a)  if the House of Assembly is then in session, within 30 days after receipt of notification of the awarding of the contract by the government funded body; or

             (b)  if the House of Assembly is not then in session, within 30 days from the opening of the next session.

             (2)  The Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency may review the grounds on which a government funded body determined that a tender was not required to be invited, including past practices of the government funded body in making such a determination, and may express his or her opinion to the head of the government funded body with respect to the sufficiency of the grounds for not inviting a tender.

Information respecting a tender

   10.1 (1) Where a tender is invited by a government funded body, the government funded body shall, at the time the tender is invited, provide the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency

             (a)  with information respecting the tender invitation in the form required by the chief operating officer; and

             (b)  within 30 days of awarding a tender, with information respecting the award of the tender including the name of the successful bidder and the amount of the contract.

             (2)  The Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency shall make available, upon request, the information submitted under subsection (1).

Confirmation of compliance

   10.2 The head of a government funded body shall, with respect to an award of a contract arising out of an invitation to tender, provide a confirmation to the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency, in the form he or she may require, that the contract was awarded in accordance with this Act.

SNL1995 cW-12 Amdt.

      11. Sections 46 to 54 of the Works, Services and Transportation Act are repealed.