Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E 2 0 1 7 7 I t is anticipated that by the end of this year new — and significantly different — procurement legislation will be proclaimed in Newfound- land and Labrador. "It is going to be a whole new regime," says John O'Dea, a partner with McInnes Cooper LLP in St. John's. An Act Respecting Procurement by Public Bodies, which was passed late last year, replaces the 16-year-old Public Tender Act and is intended to modernize procurement by provincial public bodies. Changes were needed, says O'Dea. "The old system is out of date. The statute had its genesis in an era of less transparency. Greater transparency and fairness is driv- ing this." The new legislation, which applies to all public bodies, will shift the focus from simply getting the best price to getting the best value. At present, notes O'Dea, "it was understood the preferred bidder was the lowest bidder." Greater consistency is another antici- pated benefit. The new system will be led by a chief procurement officer whose duties will include monitoring procure- ment activities, developing standardized procedures and establishing an effective complaint procedure. "The [officer] will have a fair bit of authority to ensure stan- dards are met," says O'Dea. The system will also be far more demanding on public bodies, he adds. Procedures must be documented, trained staff in place and an annual plan filed with what will be known as the Public Procurement Agency. Awards must also be posted within 30 days. Law firms may also be directly affect- ed by the updated procurement legis- lation. The new act defines professional services as legal and financial services and both can now be governed by a Treasury Board policy. On the other hand, O'Dea notes in a document he prepared on the legislation, services such as architectural, engineering and accounting are no longer considered professional services and will be treated the same as goods. There are two potential issues with the new legislation. First, how a bid is defined may be problematic. As written, the act indicates that the term "bid" means only an offer from a supplier. This is contrary to the current law on tendering, O'Dea points out in his article. Traditional procurement laws see a bid as constituting both an offer and acceptance of that offer in the form of a submission to bid for the contract. O'Dea is also concerned that the definition of "public body," which will be based on the Crown's ownership of common shares, could leave voting control in other hands. Defining a public body based on voting power would be a more effective way to define those bodies that are intended to be subject to the act, he says. — DONALEE MOULTON REGIONAL WRAP-UP AT L A N T I C \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ P R A I R I E S \ W E S T New procurement regime coming to NL N.S. PROJECT CONVERTS PERSONAL JUSTICE STORIES TO DATA P ersonal stories can yield statistical data. That reality is shaping a public call for Nova Scotians to share their experien- ces with the justice system, both positive and negative. "You have to put the public first. You have to hear first voices," says Chief Justice of Nova Scotia Michael MacDonald. The initiative, #TalkJustice, encourages individuals to visit talkjustice.ca to com- plete a survey. But this is not a typical online survey, says Chief Justice MacDonald. The system uses what is called SenseMaker software that is designed to gather large numbers of stories and present them in a way that reveals patterns and rela- tionships. Participants tell their stories in their own words and the software provides them with the tools necessary to explain the meaning of their story. This reduces the possibility of an outsider's unconscious biases changing the context. Ultimately, what the Access to Justice Coordinating Committee, which co-ordinated this phase of the project, will be left with is statistical data on people's experiences with legal services and the justice system. #TalkJustice was originally launched in 2014 by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Soci- ety to start a public conversation on what justice means to different people and how individuals in marginalized communities access legal services and the justice system. From here, the project grew to also include members of the A2JCC: the Executive Office of the Nova Scotia judiciary, the Nova Scotia Department of Justice and Nova Scotia Legal Aid. The committee hopes to have 500 stories gathered by the end of June, at which time the data will be analyzed and a report prepared for the fall. The hope is that by gathering these stories the judiciary will gain a better understanding of what's working in the system and what isn't, so that changes can be made to improve people's experiences in the future. — DM

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