RAYMOND ARSENAULT CONSULTANTS INC.
Determinations
RAYMOND ARSENAULT CONSULTANTS INC.
File No. PR-2005-041
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BY FACSIMILE
January 4, 2006
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| Re: |
Solicitation Number D1120-05-1104 |
I acknowledge receipt on January 3, 2006, of your complaint dated January 3, 2006, on behalf of Raymond Arsenault Consultants Inc. (Raymond Arsenault). The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal) (Presiding Member: Pierre Gosselin) has reviewed the complaint regarding the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) Request for Proposal (RFP) No. D1120-05-1104 and decided that the complaint is premature and, therefore, the Tribunal will not initiate an inquiry into the complaint at this time.
Subsection 6(2) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations (the Regulations) provides that a potential supplier who has made an objection to the relevant government institution within 10 working days after the day on which the basis of the objection became known or reasonably should have become known to the potential supplier, may file a complaint with the Tribunal “within 10 working days after the day on which the potential supplier has actual or constructive knowledge” of a denial of relief by the government institution.
Raymond Arsenault alleges that the PSC improperly rejected its proposal. According to the complaint, on January 3, 2005, Raymond Arsenault objected to the PSC about the decision to reject its proposal as indicated in the PSC’s contracting specialist’s e-mail of the same date. The PSC has not yet responded to that objection. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds that, since Raymond Arsenault has not yet received a denial of relief as contemplated by subsection 6(2) of the Regulations, the complaint is premature.
The Tribunal’s decision at this time would not preclude any future complaint by Raymond Arsenault once the PSC has responded to its objection, or fails to do so within a reasonable amount of time. The Tribunal suggests that Raymond Arsenault follow-up with the PSC and request a response to its letter of January 3, 2006, at the same time giving the PSC a reasonable deadline to respond, for example, within 10 working days.
In the event that Raymond Arsenault does file a new complaint, it must do so within the time limits specified in the Regulations. At that time, Raymond Arsenault may request that any evidence previously filed be joined with any new complaint, however, please note that subsection 30.12(2) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act requires that a complaint include all information and documents relevant to the complaint that are in the complainant’s possession. As such, you are requested to ensure that the Tribunal has, at a minimum, the following information:
- a complete copy of the Request for Proposal
- a copy of Raymond Arsenault’s proposal
the expected dollar value of the procurement
- a clear and concise statement of the substantive and factual grounds of the complaint
- all correspondence related to this matter
- the relief requested by Raymond Arsenault
If the complaint contains information that you wish to be kept confidential, you should consult subsection 46(1) of the CITT Act and Rule 15 of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules and proceed accordingly.
To help explain and guide you in fulfilling the requirements for filing a complaint, you may wish to refer to our complaint form that can be found on our Web site at http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/ under the Forms bullet. There is also a guide entitled “Procurement Review Process – A Descriptive Guide” on the same Web site under the Publications bullet.
Yours sincerely,
Hélène Nadeau
Secretary