Calls to ‘buy Canadian’ complicate city hall’s hiring of economic development consultant

Council's push to 'buy Canadian' appears to be more complicated than first thought. CTV London's Daryl Newcombe explains.

City council is discovering how complicated it can be to “buy Canadian” in response to U.S. tariffs.

On Thursday, the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee discussed a recommendation to hire professional services firm Deloitte LLP to consult on the development of a new Economic Development Strategy for London.

Deloitte is headquartered in England but has a worldwide network of offices and employees including in Ontario.

“I think that this would be a really good type of contract to give to a local company, or to give it to at least a Canadian company,” Coun. Sam Trosow told colleagues.

In February, council directed city staff to update city hall’s procurement policy to prioritize purchasing Canadian goods and services.

Proposals were received from nine consulting firms, three of which were fully Canadian, according to city staff.

But many of the others, including Deloitte, have complex corporate structures that make their Canadian content harder to quantify.

Mayor Josh Morgan warned the committee against a strict interpretation of Canadian-made because many international companies have locations in London.

“If you want to go with a fully Canadian owned company, you’re going to exclude a whole bunch of London companies who employ a whole bunch of Londoners,” Morgan explained.

A staff report about implementing the previous council direction to prioritize Canadian suppliers in city hall’s procurement policy is expected in late May.

Trosow’s motion to delay approval of the contract pending an evaluation of the bids for local content and Canadian content was defeated eight to four.

The $233,820 contract would see Deloitte assist in the development of London’s Economic Development Strategy and prepare a report by the end of this year.

Coun. Susan Stevenson questioned if a consultant’s report was the best way taxpayer money could be spent to strengthen the local economy.

“There’s a bunch of things that I would be more than happy to invest in - but consulting fees [are] not,” Stevenson explained.

According to a staff report, the new Economic Development Strategy will create a shared vision for London’s economic future, “… this includes developing evidence-based strategies with specific goals, measurable outcomes, and a practical plan for implementation.”

“It will build on London’s strengths and priorities to provide a clear framework that guides future economic initiatives and investments,” the report reads.

“We need to move forward,” urged Coun. Jerry Pribil. “We need to bring all the major players together, and we going to start maximizing our opportunities.”

The committee voted 10-2 (Stevenson and Trosow opposed) to recommend hiring Deloitte LLP as the consultant to develop a new Economic Development Strategy.

The mayor telling CTV News after the meeting, “[It] allow us to be much more coordinated as a city, at a time when it is exceptionally important for us to be as coordinated as possible on economic development, given the external threats that are happening to this country out of the United States.”

Council will make a final decision about awarding the consulting contract on April 22.