We Need Greater Transparency in Emergency Public Procurement
Public procurement processes are complex and lengthy procedures wherein governments acquire goods and services from private firms. These processes are intended to ensure that basic values and expectations are upheld when the government awards a contract to a private firm. The Code of Conduct for Procurement applies to the procurement activities of the Canadian Federal Government. Its stated purpose is to ensure that government procurement activities occur in “an open, fair and transparent manner” in order to maintain the confidence of the public as well as the business community. Each province has its own policies and methods that relate to government procurement of goods and services, but they share the same goal: the process must be transparent in order to prevent corruption and maintain the confidence of stakeholders.
Earlier this month, it was revealed by a CBC Radio-Canada investigation that the Quebec Government enlisted the help of a large American consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, in managing the province’s COVID-19 pandemic response. McKinsey & Co. advised the government in various important policy areas, including the procurement strategy for personal protective equipment (PPE), PCR testing strategies, vaccination strategy, and plans for communicating pandemic-related information with the public. McKinsey & Co.’s services came at a cost of $35,000 per day or $6.6 million in total.
The contract was awarded to McKinsey & Co. without adherence to the typical public procurement process. According to Premier Legault, there was no public procurement process held due to the emergency circumstances that necessitated a rapid response in order to “save lives.” Indeed, the pandemic was a time-sensitive emergency and a rapid response was necessary.
Furthermore, the Quebec Government was well within its rights to manage the pandemic with the help of a private firm. However, this situation reveals issues of ambiguity and transparency with regard to policy. Regardless of whether there is an emergency, certain standards of transparency can and should be upheld in order to prevent mismanagement of said emergency and distrust from the public.
Premier Legault communicated regularly with the public throughout the pandemic through press conferences. The public was extremely invested in the specifics of pandemic management and public health measures. Why then, in the regular press conferences related to pandemic management, was it never announced that the Quebec Government was collaborating with McKinsey & Co to manage COVID-19? Even in an emergency, we live in a democracy and the public has a right to know when a private firm has been awarded a major government contract. This is especially true when that contract provides the firm with significant influence in the management of a crisis that affects the livelihoods and health of so many people. In order to prevent another situation where the public is not informed of important information in an emergency, it should be mandatory for provincial governments, including the Quebec government, to publicly disclose when a contract has been awarded to a private firm, even if circumstances prevent adherence to a full public procurement process.
McKinsey & Co. was not obligated to disclose any conflicts of interest to the Quebec government as a condition of the contract. I acknowledge that COVID-19 was an emergency and the government needed help in managing this novel public health crisis. However, it was imprudent on behalf of the government not to insist that McKinsey & Co. disclose its conflicts of interest as a condition of the contract with the government. McKinsey & Co. had numerous clients that could be considered conflicts of interest, including Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company that developed COVID-19 vaccines. Even in an emergency, I believe it should be standard procedure to insist that a private firm disclose its conflicts of interest as a condition of being awarded a contract. There is no other way to be sure that a firm will in fact represent the interests of the government and the public. Furthermore, it is impossible for the public to have confidence in the management of the emergency if there is a perception that the government response is being influenced by private business interests.
To be clear, this is not a question of whether privatization is right or wrong, nor is it a criticism of McKinsey & Co.’s work with the Quebec Government in managing COVID-19. I believe this situation is indicative of a broader issue of transparency in government procurement during emergencies. I believe that the voters deserve to know when their government works with private firms, and they should be able to vote with this in mind. Furthermore, if a private firm is hired by the government, I believe that firm should represent the interests of the client, that is the government and the taxpayers. The only way to ensure that this is the case is by stipulating that the firm must disclose conflicts of interest ahead of time. Therefore, I call on Quebec and other provincial governments to re-examine their policies for procurement in emergencies to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated in the next emergency.