Kincardine council has directed municipal staff to make adjustments to the purchasing and procurement policy due to tariffs imposed by the United States government.
With imposed tariffs from the United States affecting day-to-day business due to increased prices for vehicles, construction materials, and other goods, the municipality is trying to safeguard itself to prevent paying too much as it looks to have capital projects completed.
Director of Corporate Services Roxana Baumann explained to council how it would change the procurement process after selecting a winning bid from a company for work.
“If we do have vendors that come in after the fact, after they have had a successful bid, they may then go and do the procurement and find out that the price that they quoted is higher than when they go to purchase it, so they need to provide us with advance notice.”
With accepting the motion put forward, staff would be directed to modify existing policies with the thresholds set forth by Ontario and Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement (OQTCA) and the Canada Free Trade Agreement for goods and services.
Such thresholds would be indexed each year, and may change how the municipality accepts bids for projects.
“We wouldn’t just be able to say no and then go to the next lowest bidder as an example, we’d still have to see entire process through with that proponent,” Baumann explained to council. “I hesitate to say it, because it really would depend on the circumstances, it’s not going to be a straight yes or no and go to the next-highest bidder, or we have to close the bid completely and then re-tender everything.”
In particular, staff are being directed to promote Canadian purchasing where possible, and allowable within the amended purchasing policy, which works through invitational procurement on goods and services up to $133,800.
“So we’ve awarded it, we’ve locked in the price, so that they’re technically committed to that, and so that’s when we have the ability to say no to them, that they don’t have to secure the items or whatever the product is. So therefore, we have the discretion to cancel it completely.”
