(Click graphic for larger version)
A tip from a reader who reads Warren Kinsella (scroll down to his Sept.12 entry), who wonders;
I’m confused. I thought Gomery’s PR flak was leaking this morning that their scrupulously-balanced reports would be late. But this MERX posting (nice to see them have a competitive process about something, for once) says otherwise. Any theories, anyone?
I saved the code of the contract page (the tender closes the 19th) and you can read it here. (Note, this is just a straightforward html copy for the purposes of preserving the text, so the links won’t work for you.)
At time of writing, it’s still available on the MERX site. You can find the Gomery report tender by scrolling down to find Services, “Communications, Photographic, Mapping, Printing and Publication Services”.
To echo Kinsella – any theories, anyone?
Worn Who? All smoke & mirrirs on behalf of the Librano$$$$$$$ “war room”.>>>>> For informed commentary see this: hootspa.>>>>>
President Holy Smoke Healing Center Society of Alberta
CEO of future Edmonton Strathcona EDA for the Marijuana Party.
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Re: Gomery report delays election call! new [Re: Dave Dowling]
#1150544 – Tue Sep 13 2005 01:52 AM
I was thrilled to hear that as well. I will study this, and although I sincerely wish I had the hootspa to do it, I doubt I will have the time to do it this year. Though, I will read it over a few times first, and I will see how big a commitment I could make.
——————–
John
heyheyitsjohn@hotmail.com
Victoria, BC Activism:
freemarcemery@hotmail.com
Peace.
Truth has nothing to fear.
http://www.rapp.org/url/?VTTHPZP1
So? I can’t open it and read it, (and those other tenders look interesting, too). As to Warren Kinsella’s musings: who cares? Punk rock lyrics, (and speeches)- not interested. But he still gets around to some upscale places, don’t he. Guess it’s all related to who pays Ya?
There are two reports, the interim and the final. The interim is the one due Nov 1st I believe.
The final is the one that is delayed for 6 weeks.
This must be for the intermim report.
Theories? Why not: There is an election coming up- probably later than sooner. A lot of chips are being recalled, ( from every sleazebag who ever propped up and misinformed and spindoctored for the present and former government, ( which are essentially the same thing-aren’t they?) George Radwansky has already moved back to Ottawa, (hmmm-wonder what he is up to these days?) And Warren:
” Hey- I’ll buy you a pizza!”
(And be a CREW SLUT)
” Of course I’ll introduce you to Warren!”
(And be a CREW SLUT)
” I ain’t going to squash it and you don’t need to wash it!”
-Joe’s Garage, Acts 2&3, Frank Zappa & the MOthers of Invention
Notice the “Organization Name” is Public Works? Think Gagliano, Guite, et. al.
I’m thinking that Merx is an “intermediary”, like the ad firms of Adscam and would love to know how much they get paid for each discrete, ah, contract they get signed or whatever it is.
Again with the “intermediaries”. Remember, big problems with Industry Canada and intermediaries have been briefly exposed in the MSM and more widely examined by the blognet.
Funny, I never noticed the feds using a private-sector intermediary for tendering; I know it at least used to be done in-house, the whole process (I was once on the inside of PWGSC).
Looks like this Merx thing could be a clever way of funneling money to Liberal loyalists via a “legitimate” business arrangement between the public and private sector.
Just surmising here…
“Clinton Makes Streisand Squeal”
nealenews.com>>>
Stand up, stand up, for Barbra>>>>
Neale has a pic… loookat the faces…. Hilarious, eh, Mony..?
Sorry for off-topic, but there is an international competition for web-logs happening,
at: theBOBs.com (Sponsored by Deutscne Welle International). Any chance we could toss Kate into that, ( kicking and screaming)? Unable to fill of the nominations form- HELP! Post it here.
I have a few theories about Kinsella, if that helps.
Merx is not a private organization. It’s just a posting system for government tenders.
I think they are probably just posting this now because this was the planned time to do it. Once they award the contract, they’ll just wait until the report is ready to activate it.
Canadians respond:
Liberals surge ahead in the polls
The federal Liberals had the support of 40 per cent of respondents in a new poll � virtually the same level of backing they received in rolling to their majority government in 2000.
The Leger Marketing survey, conducted Sept. 6-11, pegged Conservative support at 24 per cent, while the NDP stood at 15 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois at 13 per cent.
The numbers were reached after distribution of the 20 per cent of respondents who were undecided.
Some observers said the results are another sign that Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberals have bounced back from the sponsorship scandal, which had them plunging in the polls earlier this year as the Gomery commission heard allegations of widespread financial corruption within the party’s Quebec wing.
Ms. Marois said the poll revealed strong growth for the Liberals in Western Canada, including a jump of 16 percentage points in Alberta in two months and an increase of 14 percentage points in British Columbia.
In Ontario, the Liberals outstripped the Conservatives by a 46-27 margin, while the Bloc Quebecois continued its dominance in Quebec, leading the Grits by a 55-34 score.
MERX is merely a website for gov’t tenders. This is for the publishing of the report, not the writing of it. Anything over $100k in value has to be posted on MERX. Anything UNDER that can be tendered to 3 “already eligible” vendors, i.e. those that have been placed on a “qualified” list.
I find it interesting that they’re only planning to publish 4,000 copies of the reports. What happens if 10,000 people request copies?
Candace, I would hope they publish it online so everyone can view it. Why, they’d better…
I’m a bit surprised it’s not a private entity. There’s no “Canada” logo at any point on the Merx site. Thought the Libs put it on everything. A bit hard to tell this way.
Is the aptly named Mr. HArper still suggesting a fall election? What a doofus. I think the Liberal party website has one of those goofy I support Stephen Harper thingys.
“Merx is not a private organization. It’s just a posting system for government tenders.”
“MERX is merely a website for gov’t tenders.”
Merx is a private organization owned by Bank of Montreal. From Public Works:
“Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS): The service used by the Federal government to post notices (eg. Notices of Proposed Procurement, Advance Contract Award Notices and Contract Award Notices) and to distribute bid documents. This service is provided through MERX which is owned and operated by Cebra Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. For information about MERX, call 1-800-964-6379 or visit its website at http://www.merx.cebra.com.”
http://software.pwgsc.gc.ca/diso/appendices/appendixf-e.cfm
So Merx, is owned by the Bank of Montreal. I wonder if BOM is one of the banks planning to lend the Liberals money for the upcoming election? Seeing as nobody will donate to them, the Liberals have indicated they intend to borrow – presumably from a bank – up to the maximum spending limit for the upcoming election to counter the CPC warchest. Am I the only one who sees a conflict of interest here?
Anyhoo, Merx is shady. More history:
“The controversial two-year extension of the Bank of Montreal’s MERX contract with the federal government has been getting a lot of media attention and has been criticized on several fronts. In the latest development, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) held that the extension of the exclusive contract to run the government’s electronic tendering system violated Canada’s obligations under NAFTA and the Agreement on Internal Trade.
The CITT decision is rich with irony. The MERX system was designed to implement trade agreement commitments of openness, transparency and fairness. But in extending the contract for that system, the government failed to live up to those very commitments.
The complaint before the tribunal was filed on April 9,2002, by a New Brunswick firm, Tendering Publications Limited (known as BIDS). BIDS operates an online system, primarily supplying tendering documentation of the Atlantic Provinces. On April 15,2002, the CITT issued an order postponing the award of the MERX contract. This order had no effect, however, since the extension had already been awarded on March 22 (and the tribunal’s postponement of award powers do not extend to previously awarded contracts). ”
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3993/is_200209/ai_n9107328
MERX is back � maybe � and not every-
one is happy about it.
Some of the critics of the federal govern-
ment�s recent two-year extension of its con-
tract with the Bank of Montreal tosupplyelec-
tronic tendering services are predictable �
they�re competitors in the same business as
MERX.
But the extension was accompanied by a
600 percent increase in the MERX monthly
subscription fee,to $29.95 from $4.95,and the
people who pay those fees � including thou-
sands of small and medium-sized businesses
� are equally unhappy.
The massive fee increase outrages Garth
Whyte, executive vice-president of National
Affairs at the Canadian Federation of Inde-
pendent Business (CFIB). ”
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:R83vsF2v2a0J:www.summitconnects.com/Articles_Columns/PDF_Documents/05_02_04.pdf+merx+bank+of+montreal&hl=en&client=firefox-a
From Bank of Montreal:
“A two-year contract extension, secured with the Federal Government, will permit Canadian businesses of all sizes to continue enjoying the benefits of MERX, the Bank’s public sector e-tendering service that offers access to over $12 billion in federal, provincial and municipal tendering opportunities.”
The CFIB are harsh critics of MERX:
May 1, 2002
The Hon. Don Boudria
Minister for Public Works
and Government Services
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Boudria:
Thank you for meeting with Andr� Pich� and I last week to discuss CFIB�s concerns with your Department�s decision to extend the exclusive online public sector tendering contract to MERX for another two years. As I mentioned at the meeting, our primary concern is the drastic increase in fees charged by MERX, effective next month. For example, the monthly subscription fee alone will increase by 600 per cent from just under $5.00 to almost $30.00 per month.
I thought it would be useful to document why we are very upset with the new arrangement between Public Works and Government Services and the
Bank of Montreal�s MERX service:
� This significant fee increase will discourage small- and medium-sized enterprises from accessing federal and provincial government contracts. Over the years, we have worked with the
federal and provincial governments to find ways to help small firms access the over $100 billion annual government procurement opportunities. It is unlikely that many small firms will pay drastically higher fees just to look for possible contracts. This, in turn, will exacerbate the problems faced by small business owners in
the past, such as the inability to find procurement opportunities they can bid on and the contact person who is responsible for the contract.
� Why was this contract not put out to public tender?Over the
years, we have called for an open and fair tendering process. We are very concerned that this contract appears to be extended without
giving other businesses the opportunity to bid on the contract. We appreciate that there may be an explanation for this but we have received complaints from organizations that contend they could have provided some if not all the required services. One of criticism of the
government procurement process by our members has been that all too often the contract award appears to have already been determined so why go through the time and expense of bidding for
the contract. The approach taken in this case seems to support that
notion.
…We need to find ways to quickly fix this problem
so that small- and medium-sized businesses can tap into the full potential of the federal government�s on-line procurement services. You can count on CFIB�s full cooperation in helping devise pragmatic solutions that work for
small- and medium-sized businesses. I look forward to meeting again with you soon.
Sincerely,
Garth Whyte
Executive Vice President
Canadian Federation of Independent Business”
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ZEvd3KK0q2oJ:www.cfib.ca/legis/national/pdf/5122a.PDF+merx+bank+of+montreal&hl=en&client=firefox-a
Theories?…the fix is in.
Martin’s entire focus of this government has been to stall off an election until spring 2006. Reason? They will have their bribery package in place to buy the Ontraio vote….a very local and lucrative bit of election candy that will entail the systemic robbery of Alberta ans it’s redistribution to the faithful voting block in Ontario.
Let’s face it the Libranos are out of argument, vision and integrity…even the east against the west election ploy pales in the shadow of Gomery’s and the auditor general’s revelations…they have nothing left but open bribery.
Now how can Gomery compete with cold hard cash?
“The federal Liberals had the support of 40 per cent of respondents in a new poll � virtually the same level of backing they received in rolling to their majority government in 2000.”
Then why the stalling on going to the polls? Pfffft the only thing more despicable than a shilling Liberal zealot is the planted polls they cite when their electoral fortunes are in the toilet…….along with their ethics.
Anonalogue, I, too, see a potential conflict of interest. I would therefore recommend the Libs borrow from another bank with whom they’re not doing business like this.
So Merx is a private-sector contractor to the feds after all. Funny I couldn’t find much info on who they really were and who owned them on their website. Shady, indeed. I wonder what else, if anything, is going on here. Let’s keep an eye on this. I’m waiting to smell Librano blood… after all, pretty much everything they do these days is suspicious, especially with the increasing secrecy, the elimination of whistleblower protection and the gagging of civil servants for life…
Shades of the Soviet Union… No wonder their color is RED. They’re the Red Liberals!
Of course, imagine the stink Warren would be kicking up if the publishing contract had gone untendered. Actually, you don’t have to. Just recall the fuss when Gomery retained counsel whom he personally knew and trusted, without tendering.
No, I don’t pretend that there’s no story here. It’s just that Warren clearly feels the cold breeze on his exposed ass, and will go in any direction to get out of it.