Our work entails a lot of travel, often to difficult and far off places. Any travel on Canadas behalf is governed by Treasury Board Travel Directives, and increasing members are concerned with changes in the directives and the way they are applied to contractors, which they feel do not take the unique nature of our work into account and nor support the objectives of best value, fairness, openness and competition.
Some issues CAIDC members are already faced with:
First, CAIDC members are concerned about Government of Canada Requests for Proposals (RFPs) stating that costs for travel to the National Capital Region (NCR) would not be reimbursed, but had to be included in the bidder's all inclusive daily rate. This clearly places those distant from the NCR, at a significant disadvantage.
Second, members are concerned about changes in the policy concerning travel expenses reimbursable to contractors working for the government.
Finally, members are often asked to travel to unstable countries, like Afghanistan, where their insurance policies are invalid, and where the cost of insurance from specialized agencies, is very high. In our opinion, the cost of this insurance, when required, is a reasonable, justifiable out of pocket expense.
Do you face more? Post them here to be discussed!