On Aug. 27, Leuco Construction Inc. donated $10,000 to the Society of Organized Services in Parksville.
In an email, SOS marketing co-ordinator Lissa Alexander said the donation had been made by the company to show social procurement, as the municipality of Qualicum Beach works with companies that show how they ‘give back’.
In June 2016, the town had implemented a social procurement policy, which made it one of the few municipalities on Vancouver Island to do so.
This does limit what companies the town can work with, as the policy states that it’s “purpose is to exemplify collaborative governance and sound management through the provision of high quality facilities and services, that provide opportunities of continuous improvement to the quality of life for people of all ages that we serve.”
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Qualicum’s policy emphasizes the triple bottom line, where a company’s focus is not just on profit, but on social and environmental development. The policy is to promote sustainable and ethical purchasing that seeks to do no harm.
The policy directs staff to conduct purchases that contributes to the development in a supply chain ecosystem. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that supply chain partners are contributing to the advancement of the community either socially, economically, culturally, or environmentally.
The policy states that partners of the supply chain will be evaluated and rewarded based on their commitment to align with the town’s values.
The City of Parksville has not currently adopted such a policy, nor has the Regional District of Nanaimo.
The RDN’s current purchasing policy does have similar tools for social procurement, which is reviewed case-by-case.
“We don’t have instructions from our board about how they want to focus it, and how its going to attach to the strategic plan,” said Delsy Wells, the general manager of corporate services at the RDN.
The RDN is working to expand its social procurement program altogether and Wells anticipates development over the next 12 to 18 months.