Online tax library

Scarborough Ontario
Canada
M1T3V4
Nature of Requirements:

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)
An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the requirement
As access to freely available, high quality electronic versions of both Canadian case law and Official Canadian Legislation deepens, practitionersat the Department of Justice rely increasingly on author commentary and other secondary sources to fulfil their mandate.
The Department of Justice is seeking to purchase a comprehensive digital tax research library, rich with searchable, hyperlinked author commentary and analysis. This digital tax research library will provide department-wide access to the leading tax commentary that Department of Justice practitioners and researchers rely on day-to-day to fulfil their mandate.

3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities
Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product meets the following requirements:

Mandatory specifications

Access:

a. Unlimited IP access to the research database (24 hours/day, 7 days/week) for all Department of Justice employees within the Justice network across Canada.
b. Unique passwords which allow all Department of Justice employees, including those working in Departmental Legal Service Units, to accessthe database outside the Justice network in any location across Canada.
c. Capacity for all Department of Justice employees, including those working in DSLUs, to set up and manage personal accounts independent of the Department of Justice library.

Content:

a. Bilingual content in English and Canadian French within a single product.
b. Access to all content using either a French or an English interface, based on the user’s preference.
c. Functionality to toggle between French and English interface when beginning research and during research sessions.
d. Compliance of all software applications and add-ons/plugins with Government of Canada and Justice Canada IT Security requirements.
e. In addition to online access, the Department of Justice requires 25 DVD copies for offline access to all commentary available online. These DVDs will be provided for the duration of
the contract, subject to ongoing publication / availability and will allow the user to search the
database.
f. Department of Justice employees require access to the following legal titles in searchable,
hyperlinked, digital format:
a) Department of Justice employees require searchable, hyperlinked, electronic
access to the following tax commentaries:
i. Canada GST Service
ii. Canada Tax Service, McCarthy Tétrault analysis
iii. Canadian Bar Association Commentaries
iv. Canadian Petroleum Tax Journal
v. Canadian Tax Foundation Articles
vi. Canadian Tax Highlights
vii. CBA/CICA Joint Committee on taxation commentaries
viii. C.D. Howe Institute commentaries
ix. David Sherman’s Notes on the Income Tax Act
x. Department of Finance Technical Notes
xi. Fiscalité spécialisée ? (Lafontaine et al.)
xii. Fundamentals of Canadian Income Tax (Krishna)
xiii. Income Tax References
xiv. Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (Hogg)
xv. Tax Cases Notes: Case reviews (Pound)
xvi. Tax executives Institute (TEI) analysis and commentaries
xvii. Tax Times
xviii. Taxation of Corporations, Partnerships and Trusts (Tobias)
b) Department of Justice employees require online access to Newsletters
including:
i. Arbitrary Assessment
ii. Blakes on Canadian Tax Controversy & Tax Litigation
iii. Canadian Tax Highlights (Canadian Tax Foundation)
iv. New Trends in Commodity Taxes
v. Pound's Tax Case Notes
vi. Privately Held Companies & Taxes Newsletter
vii. Tax Hyperion
viii. Tax Times
ix. Tax executive Institute(TEI) Toronto Chapter Newsletter

Training and Customer service:

a. A bilingual customer service representative during the specified business hours (Mon-Fri:
8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. (ET), who can answer questions with regard to passwords, billing,
access issues, etc.
b. Access to a bilingual research and technical support helpline for users, during the specified
business hours (Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. (EST), with assistance provided in English
and French according to user preference. Service beyond regular business hours (EST) is necessary to accommodate all time zones nationally.
c. Bilingual training todesignated users via WebEx to a maximum of two (2) one-hour training sessions per language per month
d. Usage statistics designed to the specifications of the Project Authority, provided on a quarterly and annual basis, as needed.

Functionality:

a.Functionality to search globally within the research database across all or select modules and/or narrow search criteria and filter the search result down to a specific document or title.
b. Bi-directional linking with select external service providers’ databases (example: Taxfind) for users who are subscribed. This functionality will support full access to the designated external database’s content.
c. Bi-directional linking between secondary sources and any associated case law or legislation.
d. Alerting / current awareness service that each user can customize, which identifies important decisions, proposed changes to legislation, and other items of interest.

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement:
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier
The information product (Taxnet Pro) sold by the proposed vendor is the only known information product that can meet all of the above mandatory requirements. Thomson Reuters is the publisher of the required information product and is the only vendor that can satisfy the requirement for the reason of exclusive and proprietary rights.
The proposed vendor has exclusive rights to thecontent that the Department of Justice is looking to purchase and is the only vendor authorized to distribute the information products being procured, either in print, or online. The digital commentary being sought by the Department of Justice in this acquisitionstrategy is focused on providing digital access to commentary and other secondary sources currently relied on a day-to-day basis by practitioners and researchers to fulfil the their mandate.

6. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
The following exclusions and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Article 502.3(E)(1)(c)
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Article 506.12 (b)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Article 1016.2 (b)

7. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)
The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement :
- Subsection 6(d) - as only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.

8. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date
The product must be delivered on or before October 1, 2016.

9. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
Thomson Reuters Canada Limited/Thomson Reuters Canada Limitée
2075 Kennedy Road
Scarborough
Ontario M1T 3V4
Canada
Operating as: Carswell, a Division of Thomson Reuters Canada Limited

10. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods,servicesor construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstratehow thesupplier meets the advertised requirements.

11. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is Friday, September 9th, 2016 at 2:00 PM EDT.

12. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities
Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
Antoine Simard
Intern Officer
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Information Products Division - PI
Portage III - Floor: 6A2 - Room:16
11Laurier Street
Gatineau, Quebec
Canada
K1A 0S5
Telephone: (number on the official notice)
Facsimile: (number on the official notice)
E-mail: (email on the official notice)
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.