A complaint lodged by Heiltsuk Horizon which was deemed not valid by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal may now result in a judicial review.
A partnership between the Heiltsuk Nation and Horizon Maritime was formed shortly after the Nathan E. Stewart spill on their territory in 2016.
Following that, a request for proposals for an emergency towing contract was launched as part of the Oceans Protections Plan, which the company bid on but did not win.
Their complaint to the CITT then stated that the scoring system for towing proposals only factored in Indigenous content at 1 percent despite the government’s commitment to Indigenous participation.
The company also alleges that the winning contractor replaced their proposed experienced ship masters with new ship masters that were contrary to the criteria.
That complaint was then deemed not valid despite the CITT also stating that their proposal may have been the only one with vessels that met the requirements.
But now, the Federal Court of Appeal has put aside the CITT ruling and will allow the application for a judicial review of that federal procurement process, as well as awarding costs to the company.
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