The lowest bidder rule: to be reviewed!
Québec’s technical textile industry includes close to 400 companies specializing in the manufacture of textiles and value-added technical products. Together, 10,000 employees manufacture more than 45% of Canadian textiles and serve a wide variety of sectors, including furniture, construction, civil engineering, personal protection, safety, and health.
Government procurement practices that favour the lowest price, without any other considerations, hinder the growth of key manufacturing sectors of our economy, one of which is the technical textiles sector.
However, by aligning a sustainable procurement policy with a long-term economic vision, governments are giving themselves the means to encourage business innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the relevance of this approach. In fact, the Québec textile sector was able to respond quickly to the government’s call for personal protective equipment thanks to its ability to innovate to create high-performance textile materials.
Strengthened by these technological advances, the industry wants to be part of a sustainable solution. Its companies, as a result, would like to count on a responsible government commitment to preserve and grow this new market segment in Québec.
Innovation and sustainable development
The lowest bidder rule applies to all sectors, including furniture, construction, and personal protection. Together, these industries account for a large share of the purchases made by our governments from Québec contractors in 2018 and 2019, i.e., $5.5 billion of the $10 billion in contracts awarded during this period.
Public procurement must act as a true economic lever by integrating the criteria of innovation, sustainable development, performance, and regional benefits into the decision-making process.
Currently, to win a call for tenders, a contractor, even if he is a Québecer, is too often forced to purchase abroad so that he can reduce his costs as much as possible. Most of the time, suppliers are located in countries where production costs are lower than here.
Glimmer of hope
Just recently, a small glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon when the government granted municipalities and transportation organizations the right to integrate sustainable development criteria into their calls for tenders. These are criteria on which Québec’s technical textile industry can fairly compete with countries offering low-cost products.
To succeed in this transformation of government purchasing practices, it will be equally important to support subscribers to enable them to fully understand the various sustainability and innovation variables, which are much more complex to evaluate. For example, the transition from a prescribed quote, whose criteria are restrictive, to a performance quote, will lead them to fully appreciate the added value of a Québec technical material with advanced flame-retardant properties compared to a foreign product purchased at a lower price.
Such transformation is possible and fully aligns with the innovation and sustainable development strategies put forward by our government over the years – winning strategies that the technical textile businesses have embraced from the beginning and which have enabled them to gain a profitable international competitive advantage.
The time has come to encourage the growth of Québec textile products. Governments need only to translate their strategies and vision into the procurement process to foster the growth of local businesses, while respecting international trade rules.
- Letter of opinion written by Dany Charest, General Manager, TechniTextile Québec
