Buying Local May Contravene the AIT

An article in the Winnipeg Free Press about a large local government ad account (Travel Manitoba) going to an out-of-province ad agency recently got my attention.

Although noone likes to see good revenue leave their local area, Manitoba is a participant in the Agreement on Internal Trade and had they demanded the work be performed locally they may have been in contravention of that agreement.

But agreements aside - this is one more piece of tangible evidence that the selection of professional services vendors is not a local endeavour. In my opinion, for a professional services firm in a smaller market like Manitoba this represents a greater opportunity than it does a threat.

Exclusionary Clauses and The Supreme Court of Canada

Next week I will be speaking to the Canadian Marketing Association (Manitoba Chapter) and their guests on the subject of procuring professional services. Certain to come up during the discussion is the Tercon decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. To read about their decision around exclusionary clauses click here.

Lisa Stiver, a procurement expert from the law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman will be joining me and I'm sure she will provide some good insight into the ruling.

In the article attached, Paul Emanuelli, another RFP legal expert, suggests we "avoid the entire “Contract A” entanglement by using simplified procurement formats".

Sounds good to me.