GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
AFTER
THE
GAMES
PAN AM/PARAPAN AM
LEARNINGS HELP SHAPE
DIVERSITY IN CANADA
By Susan Baka
E
mbedding supplier diversity into procurement practices was a key element of the Pan American/Parapan American Games that Canada’s
largest city, Toronto, hosted in 2015. This resulted in a total spend of almost $10 million with diverse suppliers or 8.6 percent of the total supplier spend. One of the goals of the organizing committee - TO2015 - was to leave
a diversity legacy that Canada could be proud of – and that other international
sporting events could emulate. The legacy of these Games has many different
tentacles and is creating a new framework for how procurement will be looked at
within Canada – not only from a corporate perspective, but from a government
one as well.
According to Cassandra Dorrington, president
of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC),
there have been three
major outcomes from the
Games:
Dorrington
26
Spring 2017 MBE
1. Adoption of the City
of Toronto’s procurement
framework, with hard targets
and reporting requirements.
2. Formation of the Supplier Diversity Alliance
Canada (SDAC), which is helping to inform
federal government procurement.
3. Assistance to the National Basketball
Association (NBA) with outreach to diverse
suppliers for its 65th All-Star Game that was held
in Toronto in 2016.
City builds off Pan Am learnings
The City of Toronto Council unanimously adopted its Social Procurement Program in May 2016.
“One of the reasons to consider supply chain
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
diversity as part of the
program was because
of the Pan Am/Parapan
Am Games,” says Michael Pacholok, director,
Purchasing & Materiels
Management Division.
The program requires
that City staff purchasing
goods and services under
Pacholok
$100,000 get at least one
quote from a certified diverse supplier. For procurements over $100,000, points may be awarded as part of the evaluation regarding supplier
diversity in Request for Proposals. The City is also
encouraging its tier one vendors to consider developing their own supply chain diversity policies.
One of the inhibiting factors of the Games
was that diverse suppliers were only required
to self-register. “The primary learning from
the Games for the City was to require diverse
vendors to be certified by a third-party versus
self-declaration so that we can ensure the vendor meets the definition,” explains Pacholok.
The City is working with certification bodies to
provide the certified diverse vendors, which
means a more rigorous process has evolved
since the Games.
Work has been ongoing to fully implement the
Social Procurement Program into the City’s procurement processes. Staff will be reporting back
in the second quarter of 2017 on the activities
done to date, and then
again in 2018 on the
program’s progress.
Novogrodsky
28
Spring 2017 MBE
According to Tobias Novogrodsky, who served
as director of Strategic
Planning and Implementation for the City of
Toronto for the Games,
the event not only ac-
celerated work on supplier diversity that was
already underway at the City but also informed
other discussions around social procurement
and enhancing the diversity of supply chains
that were happening in parallel. He refers to this
as a “softer legacy” of connecting people on
the cutting edge of this kind of work. A harder
legacy is the introduction of a systems approach
at the City rather than simply having set asides
for small contracts for designated groups, which
is a typical approach to social procurement. “The
systems approach involves encouraging large
suppliers to think more broadly about diversifying their own supply chains and doing other
things that meet a similar public policy objective
of creating economic opportunity for disadvantaged groups,” he explains.
Certification councils collaborate
Since community engagement was another key
element of the TO2015 commitment, it created
an Advisory Council that
included representatives
of various certification
bodies and diversity
groups. “Truly one of the
legacies of the Games
was its intentional outreach to get everyone
together,” says Mary
Anderson, president
Anderson
of WBE Canada. Participation in the Council increased collaboration
among WBE Canada, CAMSC, and the Canadian
Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC), and led to the recently created SDAC by
these three certification councils.
“The SDAC supports and informs governments,
businesses, and key stakeholders on the importance of inclusive procurement policies and
practices through supplier diversity, leading to
value with economic growth and social impact,”
says Dorrington.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
The SDAC is committed to:
• Acting as Canada’s common voice for supplier
diversity
• Advocating for public policy change as it relates to supplier diversity and inclusive procurement
• Driving increased economic growth and social
impact across Canada.
“Having our three diversity councils aligned
and working cooperatively rather than in silos
is a different framework than in the U.S., but it’s
how we’re working in Canada now to advocate
for changes to current policies and programs,”
says Anderson. “Sitting together on the Games’
Advisory Council proved to be the formative
work for this.”
The influence of the SDAC is already being felt
at the federal level. With Ottawa embarking on
a Procurement Modernization Program, Dorrington and Anderson are part of a Supplier
Advisory Committee that is consulted quarterly
on federal government procurement. In addition, the SDAC hosted an event in the nation’s
capital last December, attended by close to 50
senior politicians and staffers, to raise awareness
about supplier diversity and inclusive procurement. “The attendance
surpassed our expectations and the feedback
was very receptive,”
says Darrell Schuur-
man, co-founder of the
CGLCC, who notes that
having corporate representatives speak at the
Schuurman
event certainly helped
reinforce the message.
“The more who are familiar with supplier diversity and the impact it has on their communities,
the more they can help push for change.”
The SDAC also hosted a webinar on certification to help the feds implement social and
economic benefits within its procurement.
“Through the collective efforts of our three
groups, our goal is to influence the inclusion
of supplier diversity in the modernization program,” adds Schuurman
NBA benefits
As a result of the Pan
Am Games, the NBA
benefited from tapping
into potential diverse
suppliers that the
Games identified. Because the NBA wanted
to include a supplier diversity initiative within its
Trainor
outreach to suppliers for
th
the 65 All-Star Game in Toronto in 2016, it was
able to pursue diverse suppliers that TO2015
identified, invite candidates to a session and
award some business to them.
Among those was Aboriginal-owned Morningstar
Hospitality that provided some catering services
for the Game. The company had also provided
food services at various Pan Am Games venues.
According to President Chris Trainor, the supplier
diversity initiative of the latter helped give his
company a competitive advantage in winning a
contract and subsequently helped him win the
All-Star Game business. “The Pan Am contract
certainly gave us great credibility and media
exposure and has served as a reference point in
going after new business,” he notes.
Not only did TO2015 create new business
opportunities for diverse firms like Trainor’s as part
of the Games legacy of economic development.
Its supplier diversity program has also influenced
the programs in other TO2015-affiliated
organizations, such as at lead partner CIBC –
further evidence that the impact of the Games has
indeed been far-reaching.
u
MBE Spring 2017
29