Vol. 151, No. 10 — May 17, 2017

Registration

SOR/2017-82 May 5, 2017

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Regulations Amending the Government Contracts Regulations

P.C. 2017-465 May 5, 2017

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the President of the Treasury Board, pursuant to subsection 42(1) (see footnote a) of the Financial Administration Act (see footnote b), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Government Contracts Regulations.

Regulations Amending the Government Contracts Regulations

Amendments

1 (1) Paragraph 18(1)(b) of the French version of the Government Contracts Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(2) Paragraph 18(1)(c) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) Paragraph 18(1)(e) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(4) Paragraph 18(2)(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Coming into Force

2 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (SJCSR) has identified minor issues with the Government Contracts Regulations (the Regulations), following their amendment in 2011, including extraneous words and a grammatical error in the French version of the Regulations, an obsolete reference to pardons, and a potential for misinterpretation due to language in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement that accompanied the 2011 amendments.

Background

In carrying out its programs and providing services to Canadians, the Government of Canada is one of the largest purchasers of goods and services in the country. The Regulations, made under the Financial Administration Act, set out conditions of contract entry (e.g. to require bids), security and deemed terms. Deemed terms are terms that form part of a contract even when they are not written into any contractual documents.

The Regulations were amended in 2011 to broaden the definition of a “contracting authority” and introduced a number of deemed terms in contracts. These deemed terms included that suppliers consented to the public disclosure of basic information, a declaration that they had not been convicted of certain criminal offences, and had not paid a contingency fee to a consultant lobbyist.

Clarifying the 2011 Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (see footnote 2)

In their review of the 2011 regulatory amendments, the SJCSR identified a potential for misinterpretation due to language in the accompanying Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

Notice is hereby given that two changes are required with respect to the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement in the above-mentioned Regulations published on page 1932 of the Canada Gazette, Part II, Vol. 145, No. 21, dated October 12, 2011.

The first sentence of the second paragraph on page 1937 should read:

The second sentence of the last paragraph on page 1939 should read:

The original wording of the above sentences could have been misinterpreted to mean that a contracting authority has some discretion in requiring a contractor to return an advance payment. The revisions reverse the sequence of the advance payment and the termination issues to make it clear that there is no such discretion. The revisions do not result in any consequential amendments to the Regulations.

Objectives

The objective of the Regulations Amending the Government Contracts Regulations is to address issues identified by the SJCSR.

Description

Correcting wording in the French version of the Regulations

The amendments remove extraneous words from paragraphs 18(1)(b), 18(1)(c) and 18(2)(b) of the Regulations. The French version of these paragraphs includes the words “as applicable” (“le cas échéant”), which do not add to the meaning of the deemed terms.

The amendments also address a grammatical error in the French version of paragraph 18(1)(e), by removing a word (“qu’”), and a term error by replacing the term “acompte” with “paiement anticipé.

Updating the exception for pardons

The existing deemed terms in the Regulations include that a bidder or a contractor “has not been convicted of an offence, other than for an offence for which a pardon has been granted, under section 121, 124 or 418 of the Criminal Code.” The SJCSR noted in 2012 that the Safe Streets and Communities Act amended the Criminal Records Act to order a record suspension rather than to grant a pardon. The amendments update the exception to reflect this legislative amendment.

The amendments expand this exception to include instances where a contractor has had their capacity to contract restored by the Governor in Council under subsection 750(5) of the Criminal Code, and to include convictions that have been set aside.

The amendments also change two deemed terms to refer to subsection 750(3) of the Criminal Code instead of sections 121, 124, and 418 to include frauds against the Government that remove a person’s capacity to contract under the Criminal Code.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to the Regulations as there is no change in the administrative cost to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to the Regulations as there is no cost to small business.

Consultation

Given that the amendments are housekeeping in nature, no consultations were conducted.

Rationale

The amendments address the issues identified by the SJCSR and improve the clarity of the Regulations by removing some extraneous terms, correcting a grammatical error, and adding a reference to record suspensions. The “Background” section above clarifies the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement that accompanied the 2011 amendments to the Regulations, reducing the potential for misinterpretation identified by the SJCSR. The amendments are housekeeping in nature, and have no impact on stakeholders.

Contact

Glenn Richardson
Senior Policy Analyst
Acquired Services and Assets Sector
Office of the Comptroller General
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
James Michael Flaherty Building
90 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5E9
Telephone: 613-818-4414
Email: Glenn.Richardson@tbs-sct.gc.ca