Marginal note:Queen’s Printer

• 19. (1) The Minister may, by order, appoint an officer of the Department to be the Queen’s Printer for Canada.

• Marginal note:Queen’s Printer

  (2) The Queen’s Printer shall, under the supervision of the Minister, exercise the printing and publishing functions for the Government of Canada that are assigned to the Queen’s Printer by law or by the Minister.

Marginal note:Contracts

20. Subject to any regulations that the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, the Minister may, on behalf of the Government of Canada, enter into contracts for the performance of any matter or thing that falls within the ambit of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions.

Marginal note:Terms and conditions

• 21. (1) The Minister may fix terms and conditions of contracts, and instructions and terms and conditions with respect to other documents relating to contracts and their formation.

• Marginal note:Designation

  (2) The terms and conditions and instructions may be identified by number or other designation and may be incorporated in a contract or other document by reference to their number or other designation.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (3) The Minister may, by regulation, prescribe the electronic or other means by which a term, condition or instruction, including its identification number or other designation, shall be published.

Marginal note:Construction of terms and conditions

22. Subject to its express terms and conditions, a contract, or any document relating to the contract or its formation, entered into by the Minister that provides that instructions or terms and conditions identified by number or other designation are applicable to or form part of the contract or other document shall be read and construed as if the instructions or terms and conditions to which the reference is made were expressly set out in the contract or other document.

Marginal note:Appointment

• 22.1 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint a Procurement Ombudsman for a term of not more than five years.

• Marginal note:Remuneration and expenses

  (2) The Procurement Ombudsman shall be paid the remuneration and expenses that may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:General duties and functions

  (3) The Procurement Ombudsman shall, in accord­ance with the regulations,

  • (a) review the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make any appropriate recommendations to the relevant department for the improvement of those practices;

  • (b) review any complaint respecting the compliance with any regulations made under the Financial Administration Act of the award of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department to which the Agreement, as defined in section 2 of the Agreement on Internal Trade Implementation Act, would apply if the value of the contract were not less than the amount referred to in article 502 of that Agreement;

  • (c) review any complaint respecting the administration of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department; and

  • (d) ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, on request of each party to such a contract.

• Marginal note:Other duties and functions

  (4) The Procurement Ombudsman shall also perform any other duty or function respecting the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services that may be assigned to the Procurement Ombudsman by order of the Governor in Council or the Minister.