Rayrock Remediation Project

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the Rayrock Remediation project request for proposal (RFP) phase.

It is our professional opinion that the procurement process that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open, and transparent manner.

Original signed by:

Project requirement

Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc. (RCGT) was engaged on July 16, 2021 as a FM to observe the Rayrock Remediation Project procurement process, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada under bid solicitations EW669-220778/A, EW669-220778/B and EW699-220778/C. RCGT is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This report covers the activities of the FM during the RFP phase, from July 16, 2021 continuing through to the conclusion of the evaluation phase on October 20, 2022.

The Rayrock Remediation project involves the environmental remediation of historical mining and exploration sites including:

• the former Rayrock Mine
• the Sun Rose Claim Group
• 2 exploration sites at the Horn Plateau
• a former powerline connecting Rayrock Mine to a hydroelectric power station on Big Spruce Lake
• an historical barge landing on the northeastern shore of Marian Lake
• 2 satellite exploration sites

All Rayrock Remediation project sites are within the boundaries of the Tlicho Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. Rayrock and Sun Rose are on Federal (Crown) lands within defined exclusion zones, while all other sites are on Tlicho Lands.

The Rayrock Remediation Project will involve numerous tasks, some of which are of lower complexity (debris pick-up and stockpiling) through to those of higher complexity (water treatment, sediment removal and cell construction). It is anticipated that the project will require up to 3 construction seasons, with initial mobilization occurring in winter 2022, and remediation work occurring in the summers of 2023, 2024, and 2025, depending how the work is sequenced. A typical construction season for these locations starts in May and concludes by late October, which allows approximately 180 days. However, some work activities, including winter road construction, are anticipated during the winter months.

We reviewed all of the information provided and observed all relevant activities.

This report includes:

• our attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• relevant observations from the activities undertaken

Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we:

• reviewed documents provided by the contracting authority (CA)
• monitored communications with proponents provided by the CA
• attended meetings that the CA requested our presence at
• identified any potential fairness-related matters to the CA
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

Request for proposal phase

The following activities were performed by the FM during this phase:

• attended via Microsoft Teams, a pre-tender virtual information session on July 20, 2021, where potential bidders were provided an overview of the project
• performed a review of the RFP from September 14, 2021, to November 12, 2021
  • questions, comments and identified issues were discussed
• received the first draft of the RFP on September 14, 2021
  • the RFP was subsequently posted on buyandsell.gc.ca on September 23, 2021
• observed the presentations of government of Canada officials, as well as the questions from potential bidders and answers provided at an optional site visit of the Rayrock Remediation Mine on October 7, 2021
• reviewed all questions and answers responses and the corresponding RFP amendments
  • 9 amendments to the RFP were issued, from September 29, 2021, to November 15, 2021, respectively
• attended a mandatory bidder’s conference on October 12, 2021, which was held virtually via Microsoft Teams
  • the videoconference provided potential bidders with an overview of the project as well as the requirements outlined in the RFP

The RFP closed on November 16, 2021, at 14:00 Mountain Standard Time (MST).

Two submissions were received to this RFP. Both submissions were deemed to be technically non-compliant.

A decision was subsequently made to re-issue a limited retender to the 2 non-compliant bidders. Some limited changes were made to the requirements, and a second RFP was issued.

Second request for proposal phase

A limited retender RFP EW699-220778/C was issued on August 9, 2022 for the Rayrock Remediation project.

The following activities were performed by the FM during this phase:

• attended a mandatory site visit on August 17, 2022, as well as a mandatory bidder’s conference on August 18, 2022
• received the first draft of the second RFP on August 4, 2022
  • on August 4 and 5, 2022, a review of the RFP was performed and questions, comments and identified issues were discussed
  • the limited retender RFP was sent by email to the 2 potential bidders on August 9, 2022
• reviewed of all questions and responses and the corresponding RFP amendments were conducted during that period
  • 4 amendments to the second RFP were issued from August 9, 2022 to September 20, 2022

The second RFP closed on September 20, 2022 at 14:00 MST. One submission was received to the limited retender RFP.

Bid evaluation phase

The following activities were performed by the FM during this phase:

• attended evaluation consensus meetings held on September 28 and 29 as well as on October 20, 2022
• observed the evaluation process including observing the consensus meetings of the evaluation team related to the technical evaluation criteria
• reviewed correspondence issued to the proponent, to seek come clarifications
• reviewed documentation related to the evaluation including technical evaluation criteria and grids

The evaluators performed an individual evaluation of the submission first and then consensus meetings were conducted to come to a consensus score for the technical criteria. The meeting was mediated by the technical authority with support from the CA.

Using the evaluation criteria, it was determined that the sole bidder was compliant with the requirements.

Reference documents

The documents related to solicitation EW699-220778/A; EW699-220778/B and EW699-220778/C are available on CanadaBuys or through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

November 29, 2022

Addendum to the final report dated November 9, 2022 for the Rayrock Remediation project procurement process.

This addendum covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase including contract award and debriefings.

The FM reviewed all the information provided and observed or monitored all relevant activities of the contract award and debriefing activity, as identified in this report. We hereby submit the addendum to the final report, which is based on information made available to us by the CA from October 25 to November 29, 2022.

The following activities were performed or monitored by the FM during this phase:

• conducted, on November 1, 2022, a review of a letter to be issued of the recommendation to issue a contract to the bidder
  • no fairness issues were identified
• reviewed, on November 1, 2022, a Compliance Assessment Report
  • no unresolved fairness issues were identified
• attended meetings, on November 4 and 7, 2022, held by the technical and contracting authorities with the successful bidder regarding delays in issuing the contract

No debriefings were held.

RCGT reserves the right, but will be under no obligation, to review and/or revise the report if further information that may impact our observations becomes known to us after the date of this report.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the contract award and debriefing activities for the Rayrock Remediation Project.

It is our professional opinion that the contract award and debriefing activities that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by: