This article is an excerpt from Government Procurement, which is available for purchase.
In its October 2017 determination in Rockwell Collins Canada Inc. v. Public Works and Government Services, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal awarded lost profits to an improperly disqualified bidder. The case dealt with an RFP for air traffic control systems. The Tribunal found that the government misled bidders by using inconsistent language, including an oblique stroke (“/”), to define a mandatory evaluation requirement and that the ambiguities resulted in the bidder’s rejection. The Tribunal stressed the importance of plain language and stated that a government “does no one any favours when it (i) fails to speak clearly, or (ii) fails to properly define its evaluation criteria.”
