Mr. Speaker, improving procurement services is helping the Government of the Northwest Territories achieve this Assembly’s goal of more effective and efficient government. By strengthening our procurement practices we are making sure that local businesses can benefit from government contracting opportunities and that our high standards of fiscal responsibility are maintained.
On April 1st, the Procurement Shared Services Centre in the Department of Public Works and Services began operating government-wide in order to better support these goals.
Government-wide operations followed the successful launch of the Centre in Yellowknife in June 2013. The Centre brought together a team of professionals who were previously located in individual departments. This has made it possible for the GNWT to maximize and build upon the skills of its employees while also providing a more efficient, consistent and transparent procurement experience for the business community. The Centre is positioned to focus on procuring goods and services at reasonable prices while considering key environmental and social benefits such as worker health and safety, energy efficiency, minimal packaging, or other sustainability aspects over the entire life-cycle of the product or service.
An important part of this initiative is bringing procurement support to the regions in order to better meet the needs of our departments and the local business community throughout the territory. As of April 1st, the Procurement Shared Services Centre has consolidated tender desks operating in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Inuvik that are responsible for the distribution and receipt of all government tenders, including construction.
In addition to consolidated tender desks, new fully dedicated procurement positions have been established in these communities as well. These regional positions have created employment and training opportunities for new and current regional employees. With the support of the entire Procurement Shared Services Centre team, these employees are handling all procurements of goods and services estimated to exceed $5,000 in value on behalf of our GNWT departments and the NWT Housing Corporation, excluding contracts for construction.
To give Members an idea of the volume of work being undertaken by the Procurement Shared Services Centre, over 900 procurement service requests have been received with 710 contracts awarded for a total value of $79.2 million along with 289 tender and RFP documents being handled by the consolidated tender desks on behalf of our clients.
Mr. Speaker, GNWT staff in other departments also benefit by being freed up to focus on program delivery, while our dedicated procurement offices offer a consistent single-window location for the business community to access tender and contracting opportunities with our government.
An important focus of this initiative is to improve our procurement management by providing professional support to our departments and professional services to the public. Training, development and the implementation of best practices will continue to be important as we realize the full benefits of this initiative.
The Centre has already provided training to more than 630 government employees, has established a Quality Assurance function and has gone through Fairness Commissioner training. The Centre also focuses on providing training and workshop opportunities to the business community.
Workshops have been delivered in the communities of Inuvik, Hay River and Yellowknife on “How to do Business with the GNWT” with 46 representatives from local businesses having attended. The Centre also sponsored a very successful proposal writing workshop in collaboration with the Supply Chain Management Association of the Northwest Territories and continues to work with the Association, as well as local chambers of commerce, to explore ways to further improve how the business community can access government contracting opportunities.
Mr. Speaker, Procurement Shared Services is another step in making our government more effective and efficient while decentralizing government positions and ensuring socially responsible economic development, all priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.