In a roundtable discussion, a prominent municipal authority and experts from the Government of Canada discuss how an actual emergency or disaster affects the rules in place for buying stuff, in particular urgent stuff. Henry Krecker, manager of Scientific, Medical and Photographic Division of Public Works & Government Services Canada, said that In our federal government, every minister has an exceptional authority to issue contracts up to $1 million on the spot to buy goods and services for emergency workers. Contracts may be entered into without soliciting bids when the need is one of pressing emergency where delay would be injurious to the public interest. Ron Martin, Emergency Planning Coordinator for the City of Vancouver, said that having purchasing specialists included in your disaster response team and involving them in routine training exercises could significantly improve your ability to cope with the often overwhelming purchasing demands experienced during a disaster.

Federal government
Emergencies
Methods