Three health personnel placement agencies have just been placed on the Public Procurement Authority (AMP) blacklist, following an “integrity review” which concluded that they participated in a scheme of collusion to control the prices of a mammoth call for tenders from the Legault government.
The file was in the hands of the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC), confirms the AMP.
These companies, 24/7 Health Care Expertise, Elite Comfort and the company at number 9272-4095 Québec inc. (a Laval franchise of Confort élite) were registered Tuesday on the Register of companies not eligible for public contracts (RENA). They are prohibited from participating in government tenders until April 2029.
In December 2022, the three companies participated, with around a hundred other employment agencies, in a call for tenders aimed at filling more than eight million hours of work per year in the health network with hand -temporary work.
An investigation of The Press published in the days following the disclosure of the tender results revealed allegations of “major irregularities” in the process. Several elements showed that the three companies, which positioned themselves very favorably, shared resources and exchanged personnel.
The Public Procurement Authority claims that it started its own checks as soon as the call for tenders was published. “There have been a lot of complaints,” confirms the director of public affairs, René Bouchard.
Submission “sacrifice”
Last October, the shareholder of 9272-4095 Québec inc., Eliott Kasser, sat down and admitted in a sworn declaration that it was not he who decided the prices at which his own company bid as part of the call for tenders, but rather Dany Côté, one of the owners of 24/7 Health Care Expertise. His statement described a complex scheme that allegedly allowed the three companies to obtain favorable rankings by using Mr. Kasser’s bid as a “sacrifice bid” to establish the market floor price.
“Through their respective leaders [les trois entreprises ont] participated in a ploy in order to submit strategically defined prices” as part of the government’s call for tenders “with the aim of encouraging an award of contracts favorable to them”, concludes the Public Procurement Authority in a press release .
The public procurement watchdog adds that 24/7 Health Care Expertise and Elite Confort “tried to influence” Mr. Kasser by “asking him, among other things, to delete potentially compromising emails or those tending to corroborate their stratagem,” indicates the ‘AMP.
“Considering the breaches of the Public Bodies Contracts Actthese companies have their authorization to contract revoked,” the press release added.
The owners of 24/7 Health Care Expertise, Dany Côté, Éric Côté, as well as Jill Eusanio, who runs Confort Élite, vigorously deny having participated in any form of collusion.
“We vigorously contest the opinion of the AMP and we have taken the necessary recourse to assert our rights,” declared the management of 24/7 Health Care Expertise by email. We offer an essential service to guarantee access to quality care. This is why, until this situation is resolved, we will continue our activities in accordance with our contractual obligations. »
60 days to stop executing contracts
The two companies listed on the government blacklist still carry out labor placement activities for different CIUSSs. They must cease the execution of any public contract within 60 days, “unless the continuation of the contract is authorized by the Treasury Board,” specifies the AMP.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel
“We will never compromise on integrity,” responded Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel, responsible for government public contracts. “The AMP is neutral and independent. It has all the necessary powers to ensure the integrity of public markets. For our part, we will ensure that we properly support establishments that had active contracts with these companies to ensure that services are maintained and plan for the future,” she added in a written statement sent to La Presse. .
The ban on the three companies from participating in calls for tenders comes almost a year after the contracts were awarded, a deadline considered reasonable by the AMP, even if some competing placement companies complained of having been forced into bankruptcy.
From the moment we began our integrity check, we had to validate the facts and cross-check them by knocking on the doors of companies [sous enquête]. We cannot act on suspicion. Before rendering a decision, we are subject to the rule of procedural fairness.
René Bouchard, Director of Public Affairs at the AMP
A group of competing companies took the case to the Superior Court of Quebec shortly after the results of the call for tenders were announced, asking for the contracts to be canceled. “The situation has caused financial damage and it is important for us to obtain a judgment in this matter,” underlines Patrice Lapointe, president of Entreprises privées de personnel santé du Québec (EPPSQ), the largest association of agencies. placement of private personnel.
“These are behaviors that must be sanctioned, and for the government and the Government Acquisition Center [qui était responsable de l’appel d’offres]there are lessons to be learned from what happened,” adds Mr. Lapointe.
Three other agencies sanctioned in February
The public procurement authority also confirmed that it had placed three other temporary employment agencies which had participated in the call for tenders last February: Agreppro, Siloé and 9423-8714 Québec inc. According to his verifications, one of the people involved signed and submitted tenders on behalf of two companies involved, in addition to defining the prices to be submitted for the third company.
“The AMP also noted that this same person demonstrated reprehensible and negligent behavior by not taking note of all of the obligations contained in the tender documents prior to submitting tenders, by declaring falsely having done so and, moreover, by not taking into account the negative consequences of his actions on the entire call for tenders process,” writes the organization in its press release.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press