This article is an extract from the 5th edition of Government Procurement.
In its November 2018 determination in Sunny Jaura (c.o.b. Jaura Enterprises) v. Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ordered a re-evaluation after finding that the government awarded a contract to a non-compliant bid. The dispute dealt with a request for proposals for hotel accommodations. The complainant alleged that the award went to a competing bid that failed to meet the requirements relating to in-room telephone services and housekeeping stated in the solicitation. The Tribunal agreed, finding “that it was unreasonable for the evaluators to imply, based on the mere physical presence of the phone in a photograph, that local calls were included in the room rate” since “the physical presence of the phone indicates nothing of the charges, if any, that arise from the usage of that phone”. The Tribunal also found that there was nothing in the winning bid “from which evaluators could reasonably infer that cleaning was included in the room rate”. The Tribunal therefore ordered a reconsideration. As this case illustrates, evaluators should proceed with caution in drawing inferences regarding bid compliance from the information contained in a bid.
