Great Bear Lake Remediation Consultant Services

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the procurement process of the Great Bear Lake Remediation Consultant Services.

It is our professional opinion that the procurement process that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by:

Project requirement

BDO Canada LLP (BDO) was engaged on March 8, 2022 as a FM to observe the competitive procurement process for the Great Bear Lake Remediation Consultant Services issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada, on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada under the solicitation EW699-221960. BDO is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This report covers the activities of the FM, from March 8, 2022 continuing through the conclusion of the evaluation phase on November 17, 2022.

We reviewed all of the information provided and observed or monitored all relevant activities.

This report includes:

• our attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• relevant observations from the activities undertaken

Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we:

• familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents
• observed the pre-bid and bid solicitation activities
• Identified fairness-related matters to the contracting authority (CA)
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

The following is a summary of the FM monitored activities and related observations March 8, 2022 continuing through the conclusion of the Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation phase on November 17, 2022.

Request for Proposal

Documents reviewed

During the RFP phase, the FM was provided with the following documents for review:

• draft and final RFP documents
• clarification questions and answers during bid open period
• addenda
• correspondence with industry

Bid open period

The RFP was posted on buyandsell.gc.ca on May 16, 2022, under solicitation EW699-221960/A. During the bid open period, 7 amendments were issued. The RFP closed on August 11, 2022.

Three responses were received by the solicitation closing date and time.

Bid evaluation

The RFP evaluation material was provided to the FM on September 8, 2022. The FM attended the pre-evaluation meeting held by the CA on September 27, 2022.

The phased bid compliance process (PBCP) was completed in conformance with the information contained in the RFP. There was no compliance assessment report issued to bidders.

The following PBCP activities were completed:

• phase 1: the financial compliance assessment was conducted by the CA and all 3 submissions contained all required financial information
• phase 2: the technical compliance assessment was conducted by the evaluation team and all 3 submissions were compliant with the eligible mandatory requirements
• phase 3: the evaluation team completed the individual evaluation of the bid submissions until a successful bidder could be identified

The FM attended all consensus evaluation meetings on October 6, 7 and 21, 2022.

The following process was undertaken to evaluate the bid submissions:

• all evaluators conducted their own independent review and scoring of the response in their evaluator workbook
• once the independent reviews were completed, the evaluators participated in all meetings to agree on the consensus assessment
• evaluators recorded and marked any changes agreed to during consensus in their individual workbooks
• the CA confirmed with each member of the evaluation team that they were in agreement with the final consensus scores and rationale
• all bids were declared responsive
• the top ranked bidder’s financial capability was confirmed on November 17, 2022

Fairness monitor observations

The FM reviewed the draft and final RFP documents and all draft amendments to the RFP including responses to clarification questions.

Any requests for clarification from the bidders during the bid open period were addressed via amendments by the CA.

Any potential fairness concerns, observations or requests for clarification made by the FM were addressed by the CA. The CA was responsive in providing clarification when requested by the FM.

The FM’s review of documents and monitoring of activities during the RFP evaluation phase resulted in the following observations:

• the evaluation plan was consistent with the published procurement documents
• the evaluation team members were chosen and confirmed prior to the receipt of responses
• all evaluators attended the evaluation orientation session. The CA informed all evaluators of the following:
  • identity of the response received and requested evaluators to declare any conflict of interest and confidentiality protocol
  • document control
  • evaluation process
  • clarification process
  • consensus process
  • overview of scoring workbooks and method for individual assessment
  • explanation of fairness and the need for objectivity, consistency, and equitable treatment of responses
  • guidance with respect to only assessing the information that is in the response
• the scoring criteria and assessment tools were established prior to the receipt of responses and were consistent with the RFP
• the CA confirmed to the FM, that the bids were assessed in accordance with the entire requirement of the bid solicitation including the technical and financial evaluation criteria

No fairness issues were observed by the FM during the evaluation phase.

Reference documents

Documents related to solicitation EW699-221960/A are available on CanadaBuys or through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

June 22, 2023

Addendum to the final report dated January 3, 2023 for the competitive procurement process of the Great Bear Lake Remediation Consultant Services.

This addendum covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase including contract award and debriefings.

Contract award, communications, and debriefing

One contract was awarded on March 22, 2023. Along with the notification of awards, a written debrief was provided to the 2 unsuccessful bidders, explaining the results of the evaluation. Two debriefings were requested which took place April 11 and 13, 2023 via conference calls. The FM reviewed all correspondence and observed the meetings with the bidders. The process conducted conformed to the requirements of the RFP. All bidders were treated fairly.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the competitive procurement process of the Great Bear Lake Remediation Consultant Services to its conclusion on April 13, 2023.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive solicitation process we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by: