The First Test Of The Supplier Integrity Rules

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has announced that it is examining the effect of Hewlett Packard's (HP) guilty plea to charges of bribery regarding that company's contracts with the federal government. This is PWGSC's first publicly announced application of its recently enhanced debarment regime, as set out in its Integrity Framework, and clearly demonstrates that the policy is no empty threat. Debarred suppliers stands to lose millions in existing and future opportunities if contracting entities are forced to quickly change suppliers as a result of the commission of a debarment-qualifying offence.

The new Integrity Framework, which was reviewed in an earlier update, ¹ establishes rules for debarring corporations and individuals who have committed an integrity offence. The offences are not presented as a comprehensive list of statutory provisions. Instead, PWGSC lists 18 broad categories of offences ranging from money laundering to falsification of