City makes moves towards Canada-first buying policies

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – City councillors are looking to localize routine services and procurement policies during a time of economic uncertainty. 

Councillor Trevor Bolin brought forward two notices of motions for voting during the February 24th regular meeting of Fort St. John city council. 

A notice of motion is a resolution made by a councillor or the mayor and directed to staff as a ‘heads up’ for requests or actions the elected officials hope to see in future council meetings. 

The first resolution directed staff to issue requests for proposals – third party applications – to provide ‘routine services of signage, printing and towing’ needed by the city. 

Bolin explained this might give the city the opportunity to find ways to manage the costs of these services and streamline the process by making the proposals last for multiple years. 

In line with the first resolution, Bolin’s second proposal directed staff to review current procurement policies and procedures to see if incorporating a ‘Canada-first buying policy’ was possible. 

“This puts us a step ahead of most municipalities while they wait, so at least this is on the docket and ready to go,” Bolin said. 

Staff confirmed with council that this was something that could be explored, and that higher levels of government across the province were working on similar policies which would be coming out throughout the year. 

Both notices were met with unanimous approval by the council, and staff stated they would begin working on the resolutions.