(Quebec) We must not “demonize” over-the-counter contracts, believes the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel. She was reacting to the findings of the Public Procurement Authority (AMP), which is increasingly observing “the presence of organized crime, collusion and sharing of territories”, and is concerned about a 30% increase in this type of agreement.
“What we can see is that the AMP, with its powers for two years, is able to better detect what is happening on the ground and that was the objective,” said Mr.me LeBel in the press scrum on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the CEO of the Authority, Yves Trudel, highlighted “the presence of organized crime, collusion and sharing of territories” during the organization’s surveillance activities. He was concerned about a 30% increase in the number of over-the-counter contracts over the past three years. “It is worrying that we are increasing over-the-counter contracts and decreasing tenders,” he said.
The former chief prosecutor of the Charbonneau commission does not agree. “But we must not demonize the over-the-counter contract by claiming that any over-the-counter contract necessarily leads to embezzlement,” said Mr.me LeBel. She says that the average number of over-the-counter contracts in the public sector fluctuates on average “between 17% and 24%”.
However, she recognizes that her colleague Jonatan Julien’s bill must be modified so that “the Public Procurement Authority is able to exercise its supervision” of over-the-counter contracts.
“What doesn’t worry me is that I have a guard dog who for two years has had the necessary tools to intervene. I’m going to tell you a big secret: zero risk doesn’t exist. If zero risk existed, there would be no AMP. What is important is that we have given him more power since 2021,” said Mme LeBel.
Changes
Mr. Trudel made these statements during a parliamentary committee which was studying Minister Jonatan Julien’s bill on infrastructure. His organization raised “red flags” by mentioning “risks for public markets”. Following an unsuccessful call for tenders, a client – the Ministry of Transport or Health, for example – will be able to award a contract by mutual agreement without it being necessary to publish a notice of tender. intention.
However, the notice of intent “allows the public body to indicate its interest in working with a potential supplier”. “Following the publication, other suppliers may express their interest depending on their ability to complete the contract,” notes the AMP.
Minister Jonatan Julien has committed to rewriting the article. “What we are going to write will suit the concerns of the Authority and the Auditor General,” said Mr. Julien. He affirmed that his bill will create “more competition” and will therefore reduce the number of over-the-counter contracts.
The opposition is worried
But for the opposition parties, it is too little. “I am very worried,” declared PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who affirms that Jonatan Julien’s bill creates a mechanism “by which it would be very easy to organize collusion”, and “that objectively you create an environment which would favor collusion.”
“The desire of the CAQ, in times of pandemic, was, as far as possible, to bypass the environmental assessment processes, the call for tender processes, and we saw an explosion of voluntary contracts at will, and it did not fade after the pandemic,” he lamented.
The ethics critic for Québec solidaire, Vincent Marissal, believes that the government has “let its guard down”. “Nature abhors a vacuum. If we give up a little, these people will come back. There was a change to be made in 2012, there is a change to be made in 2024,” he said.
Obviously, we have probably let our guard down a little, we may also have given too many contracts over the counter. Over-the-counter contracts in our system should always be the exception. And we notice that there are more and more of them.
Vincent Marissal
Liberal Madwa-Nika Cadet described the Authority’s exit as “disturbing”. “This is not acceptable. This is clearly not acceptable,” she said.