Can anyone explain this?
(archive.md)
Comments (9)
sorted by:
https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/goods-and-services-identification-number/gsin/N1330B
When you go to the actual GSIN there is no description at all for this.
https://imgur.com/pzDewul
So I found 2 more,
Grenades (W8484-14XA13/002/BK) - Buyandsell.gc.ca Public Works and Government Services Canada Acquisitions Branch Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Engagement buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/award-notice/PW-BK-367-24281-002?order=title... Feb 3, 2014 - Grenades (W8484-14XA13/002/BK) The Government of Canada needs products and services in support of Canada’s response to COVID-19. Learn how to supply a needed product or service Tender Award Status Publishing status Active Dates Contract award date 2014/01/31 Publication date 2014/02/03 Amendment date None Details Contract number W8484-14XA13/002/BK
Grenades (W8484-14XA13/001/BK) - Buyandsell.gc.ca Public Works and Government Services Canada Acquisitions Branch Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Engagement buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/award-notice/PW-BK-367-24280-001?order=title... Feb 3, 2014 - Grenades (W8484-14XA13/001/BK) The Government of Canada needs products and services in support of Canada’s response to COVID-19. Learn how to supply a needed product or service Tender Award Status Publishing status Active Dates Contract award date 2014/01/31 Publication date 2014/02/03 Amendment date None Details Contract number W8484-14XA13/001/BK
My bet is that they replaced a generic phrase that was used in multiple ads way back when with new COVID-19 ones or someone did a string replace in the DB for a common phrase they wanted to update not realizing they didn't date trap it.
Fucking weird. Someone should get fired for that. But they won't, because public servants can't get fired, which is why the government is so incompetent with this shit and everything else.
9 times out of 10 they paid a "consultant" to build the thing who upon completing the project dissolved the company and from that point forward they are basically at a loss to get any support at all. They decided they wanted the website and listed the requirements and then internally farmed it to a close friend who build a company to send the exact bid and requirements to the RFP. They got the job then sub contract it out and as soon as they are paid they dissolve and disappear.
Nobody fixes this shit
Why would they? They're government workers who can't get fired no matter what they do. What's the incentive for fixing problems left behind by contractors?
ehhh date the listing was modified March 2, 2016
Yeah, how were they asking for tear gas for the purpose of covid-19 response back in 2016?
The federal gov't purchasing tear gas isn't suspicious in itself. The military goes through a ton of that shit every year. It's the description where it's mentioned that the tear gas is for covid-19 response that's suspicious. It reads like a shitpost but I can't think of how a shitposter could have gotten that into the Canada.ca buy/sell database.
If you follow the link to the actual item page there's no description there, just some listing data. So it looks like the descurion was removed, but is still lingering in the search system.
Best guess: Shitposted by someone who had access to the database, and was then corrected?
Edit: Wait, that doesn't make sense because the item page says "Date modified:2016-03-02".
Where the fuck did the search function find that paragraph referencing covid-19?
My guess is the phrase "Are you a business that can supply products and services in support of Canada’s response to COVID-19? Canada wants to hear from you." is inserted in the search index.
A lot of government purchasing websites are really, really shitty, speaking as a person who sells things to the government fairly often.
Do you see the yellow banner on top?
This is a header which is the same on any page on buyandsell.gc.ca. A few months ago this header looked like this:
https://i.imgur.com/wIEDeGc.png
Even on older pages (like the one with the tear gas grenades) this header will appear. Now they changed the header to something new and when the search engine will index the websites again, the Covid-19 mention on this specific page you linked will vanish.
https://i.imgur.com/IdDX4OF.png
So every single one of these has the same COVID-19 phrase in it. (sorry for the low res image but you can see what I mean when you zoom in even if it isn't clear)
https://i.imgur.com/Mj8Ch3u.png
Here is another one with effectively the same wording as your example.
My bet is that this is purely a content error and nothing more. I bet they reused a common procurement phrase not realizing that this changes all of them regardless of data and makes a complete mess of the archives.