The Office of the Procurement Ombud will be presenting on the key takeaways and findings from their 2023-24 Annual Report which was recently tabled in Parliament. Notably, the session will highlight the top 10 issues found in federal procurement, provide an overview of recent systemic reviews including those on contracts awarded to McKinsey & Company and on ArriveCAN, an update on the Ombud's 4 priorities, and the key trends and developments in federal procurement.                                                                                                                                 

Key Takeaways:

From this session procurement professionals will learn about the following:

• A call to action on changes needed in the federal procurement system
• The Procurement Ombuds 4 priorities: Growth in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Knowledge Deepening and Sharing, Simplification, Transparency
• The Top 10 issues in federal procurement in 2023-24
• The findings of reviews of complaint report brought to OPO by suppliers
• The findings of OPO’s systemic procurement practice reviews of federal departments

This session is sponsored by

Speakers:

Alexander Jeglic- Procurement Ombud

Mr. Alexander Jeglic has been re-appointed as Procurement Ombud for a five-year term.

Alex is a lawyer by background and previously served as General Counsel for Private-Public Partnerships Canada Inc., a federal Crown Corporation, where he was involved in the procurement processes for large infrastructure projects. He also held positions of increased responsibility in the United States and Canada including at the Canadian Commercial Corporation as Senior Legal Counsel and the Australian Trade Commission as Business Development Manager and International Trade Advisor in Washington (DC). Throughout Alex’s legal and professional career, he has focused primarily on procurement, contracting and dispute resolution which has served him well as Procurement Ombud.

Alex graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts (Law), with a concentration in Business Law, in 2000. In 2001, he completed the Cornell Law School Paris Summer Institute program in international and comparative law and in 2003 completed a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in Chicago, Illinois with a certificate in International Law.

Alex has also taught procurement law at Carleton University for several years. Alex and his wife Shelley have four children, Xavier, Gabriella, Julianna and Oliver.

David Rabinovitch - Deputy Procurement Ombud

David Rabinovitch has been a member of the Federal Public Service since 1998, and has over 30 years of private and public sector experience leading and managing teams.

Prior to joining the public sector, he lived and worked in the Kansai region of Japan for 5 years, first teaching English as a second language, and then founding a small company that developed curriculum and provided training to Japanese business executives in preparation for overseas postings.

Upon returning to Canada, David obtained Civil and Common Law degrees from McGill University in Montréal, and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1998. Since joining the Federal Public Service, he has specialized in the areas of investment analysis, policy development, client service, financial management, strategic and business planning, and communications.

David previously worked at the Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO) as the Director of Communications and Corporate Management, prior to joining the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as Senior Director of National Portfolio Strategy. He rejoined OPO as Deputy Procurement Ombud in April 2017.