“Scary”, “appearance of favoritism” and “dangerous”; the opposition parties claim that the Legault government, which awarded $17.4 billion in contracts without a call for tenders, likes to circumvent institutions and not respect the rules.
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“It’s worrying,” said Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The newspaper revealed on Tuesday that even before the pandemic, the CAQ government was already the champion of contracts without a call for tenders. Since COVID-19 and still today, spending without any competition has exploded.
“It’s scary. 17 billion is a lot, a lot of money. And what we see is that, of course, people understand that we award contracts without a call for tenders when it comes to urgent medical equipment. But what we see, in fact, is that it’s in all areas,” added Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, adding that calls for tenders exist to “avoid favoritism and avoid what we discovered at the Charbonneau commission. »
With the end of the health emergency, the oppositions are demanding deep and complete accountability, even before the elections.
Mode of governance
According to the solidarity deputy, Vincent Marrisal, contracts without calls for tenders have become the norm since the election of the CAQ.
“It must be the exception (…) It is unheard of, it is a slippage which is extremely dangerous”, mentioned the spokesperson for health.
The latter believes that it was easier for François Legault to govern by decree “behind closed doors”.
“The goal of a government, when it awards contracts, is to get the best product at the best price. When we do it without a call for tenders behind closed doors, with a small group of people under health emergency, and then when the contract goes to a personal friend of the Prime Minister, we are entitled to ask ourselves many questions about free competition and then did we buy the right product,” said the MP.
Non-compliance with the rules
Same story from the leader of the Liberal Party. She believes that this is a mode of governance for the Legault government.
“François Legault does not respect the rules”, described Dominique Anglade. “There are clearly appearance issues in contract management. »
The CAQ government assures that there will be accountability once the health emergency is lifted. The Auditor General must also examine the contracts that were awarded during the pandemic.