Slightly more than one third of the $444.5 million in contracts the Northwest Territories government entered into last fiscal year did not go out to competition. And former Government of the Northwest Territories bureaucrats continue to be popular choices when the government hand picks its contractors.

According to government contracting data, during the fiscal year from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the government chose to go with so-called sole source, non-competitive contracts on 530 occasions. The contracts were for everything from office chairs to advice on airport renovations.

Government rules state that all contracts must be put out to competition unless the service or good being contracted for is so urgently needed that putting it out to tender would be “injurious to the public interest,” or only one party is available or capable of performing the contract.

Departments can also pick and choose who they give smaller contracts to — those less than $100,000 in the case of architectural or engineering work, less than $50,000 for other professional services, or under $25,000 for all other contracts.

From April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 the government spent $83.7 million tax dollars through sole source contracting. It spent another $69.3 million on what’s known as “negotiated contracts” — contracts given to specific suppliers to maximize local benefits or build capacity in the territory.

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