Axis Kast wrote:So, anytime a bid is invited, and less than two proposals appear, the result is a sham?
The result is a non-competitive procurement, which has a different set of applicable regulations in government contracting than competitive procurements. This is the field of business I work in daily as a procurement representative for a government contractor; any such sole-source bid should be accompanied by a full independent estimate of costs (there are some other things that we can use, but they wouldn't apply to this sort of scenario). It's possible this was done, but it sounds like they simply went "sole responsible bidder" and awarded the project without sufficient oversight of the costs.
Also, based on this article, it appears TransCanda is no longer involved, and the pipeline is being built by ConocoPhillips and BP and subsidized by the Alaskan government.
Stanley Hauerwas wrote:[W]hy is it that no one is angry at the inequality of income in this country? I mean, the inequality of income is unbelievable. Unbelievable. Why isn’t that ever an issue of politics? Because you don’t live in a democracy. You live in a plutocracy. Money rules.
The Dark wrote:The result is a non-competitive procurement, which has a different set of applicable regulations in government contracting than competitive procurements. This is the field of business I work in daily as a procurement representative for a government contractor; any such sole-source bid should be accompanied by a full independent estimate of costs (there are some other things that we can use, but they wouldn't apply to this sort of scenario). It's possible this was done, but it sounds like they simply went "sole responsible bidder" and awarded the project without sufficient oversight of the costs.
The largest contract that the Canadian government can award sole-sourced is $5,000 unless it goes through the Prime Minister's Office.
