A Moose Jaw-first purchasing policy is not something the city is considering implementing, although there are other Saskatchewan communities with such policies.
During last week's premiers' meeting in Regina, Premier Brad Wall said the Saskatchewan government would like to stop "local buy" community preference policies (by either persuasion or law implementation), although he noted there aren't many of them currently in the province.
Swift Current (Wall's home city) is an example of one Saskatchewan municipality with a formal local supplier preference policy, with the city giving bids from that community preference if they are within 10 per cent of the lowest bid for contracts under $50,000 or within five per cent for contracts that exceed $50,000.
According to Garry McKay, Moose Jaw city manager, the Friendly City does not have any local purchasing preference policies similar to those in Swift Current. Instead, whenever the city contracts work out, its policy is to offer the job to the lowest bidder who meets tender specs, regardless of the company's location.
McKay said local firms still typically have an advantage over those out-of-town, simply because local firms don't have to include freight costs into their bids.
He added the city considers local purchasing preference policies a "two-edged sword," because, while such policies must ensure local companies have a formalized bidding advantage over other companies, it means other cities with similar policies would likewise consider their firms over those from Moose Jaw.
In scenarios where all communities have local preference policies, McKay said all local contractors could find themselves limited to working on local jobs only.
However, the city manager said occasionally the topic of reconsidering the city policy regarding local preference policies does arise whenever there are large contract bids, although those periodic discussions remain academic.
Brian Martynook, Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce executive director, said the chamber believes that although purchasing preference policies might benefit local companies in the short term, such policies would harm the city overall.
For example, he said such "local buy" policies might overlook outside firms that possibly offer a better product. Also, reiterating the thoughts of McKay, Martynook said such policies could harm Moose Jaw companies if other cities had similar programs.
That said, Martynook said the chamber always encourages Moose Javians to purchase locally as an informal policy.
Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.
