CISION CANADA INC.
File No. PR-2016-010

Decision made
Monday, May 30, 2016

Decision and reasons issued
Thursday, June 2, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• DECISION
• STATEMENT OF REASONS
  • DECISION

 

IN THE MATTER OF a complaint filed pursuant to subsection 30.11(1) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. 47 (4th Supp.).

BY

CISION CANADA INC.

AGAINST

THE CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY

DECISION

Pursuant to subsection 30.13(1) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal has decided not to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.

Jason W. Downey
Jason W. Downey
Presiding Member

STATEMENT OF REASONS

1. Subsection 30.11(1) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act^[1] provides that, subject to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations,^[2] a potential supplier may file a complaint with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal) concerning any aspect of the procurement process that relates to a designated contract and request the Tribunal to conduct an inquiry into the complaint. Subsection 30.13(1) of the CITT Act provides that, subject to the Regulations, after the Tribunal determines that a complaint complies with subsection 30.11(2) of the CITT Act, it shall decide whether to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.

2. The complaint concerns a Request for Proposal (Solicitation No. 9F015-20150519) issued by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for the provision of media monitoring services. Cision Canada Inc. alleges that the CSA did not evaluate its technical proposal in a fair and equitable manner. Furthermore, it alleges that the CSA incorrectly rejected its proposal because it had not submitted the appropriate schedule with its financial proposal.

3. Having examined the complaint, the Tribunal is of the opinion that it does not have jurisdiction to inquire.

4. As mentioned above, subsection 30.11(1) of the CITT Act limits the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to “. . . any aspect of the procurement process that relates to a designated contract . . .” [emphasis added]. Furthermore, subsection 7(1) of the Regulations, which sets out the conditions that must be met before the Tribunal may inquire into a complaint, stipulates amongst other things that the complaint must concern a “designated contract”.

5. Also, section 30.1 of the CITT Act defines “designated contract” as a “. . . contract for the supply of goods or services that has been or is proposed to be awarded by a government institution and that is designated or of a class of contracts designated by the regulations”.

6. A designated contract, under section 30.1 of the CITT Act, is therefore defined in part as a contract for the supply of goods or services that has been awarded by a government institution. Section 30.1 defines “government institution” as “any department or ministry of state of the Government of Canada, or any other body or office, that is designated by the regulations”.

7. In this regard, subsection 3(2) of the Regulations designate as government institutions the federal government entities or government enterprises set out in the following sections of the trade agreements that are potentially applicable: Schedule of Canada in Annex 1001.1a-1 and in Annex 1001.1a-2 of the North American Free Trade Agreement,^[3] under the heading “CANADA” in Annex 1 and in Annex 3 of the Agreement on Government Procurement,^[4] Schedule of Canada in Annex Kbis-01.1-1 and in Annex Kbis‑01.1-2 of Chapter Kbis of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement,^[5] Schedule of Canada in Annex 1401.1-1 and in Annex 1401.1-2 of Chapter Fourteen of the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement,^[6] Schedule of Canada in Annex 1401.1-1 and in Annex 1401.1-2 of Chapter Fourteen of the Canada‑Colombia Free Trade Agreement,^[7] Schedule of Canada in Annex 14-A of Chapter Fourteen of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement,^[8] Schedule of Canada in Annex 17.1 and in Annex 17.2 of Chapter Seventeen of the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement,^[9] Schedule of Canada in Annex 1 and in Annex 2 of Chapter Sixteen of the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement^[10] and the federal government entities referred to in Chapter 5 of the Agreement on Internal Trade.^[11]

8. The CSA is not listed in the relevant schedules or annexes of the trade agreements. Furthermore, the CSA is specifically excluded from the scope of Chapter 5 of the AIT in accordance with Annex 502.2A.

9. The Tribunal therefore concludes that the CSA is not a federal government entity or a government enterprise covered bythe agreements and, therefore, it is not a “government institution” in accordance with section 30.1 of the CITT Act.

10. For this reason, the Tribunal also concludes that the contract that relates to this procurement process is not a designated contract within the meaning of the CITT Act.

11. Given that the procurement in question does not relate to a designated contract, the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to inquire into the complaint. In light of this conclusion, the Tribunal will not consider the issue of whether the complaint meets the other conditions for inquiry set out in subsection 7(1) of the Regulations.

DECISION

12. Pursuant to subsection 30.13(1) of the CITT Act, the Tribunal has decided not to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.