Quebec is adopting a way of doing things that contrasts with that of the federal government in finding accommodation for asylum seekers who arrive by Roxham Road in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle. While Ottawa awards contracts without a call for tenders at a secret price, the Quebec health network is launching a public call for tenders which will make it possible to know the identity of each potential supplier and the amount offered by each.
Press on Monday revealed that the federal government has rented land from a major Liberal Party of Canada contributor for 10 years, without competitive bidding and at a secret price, in order to accommodate migrants crossing the border in such a way irregular by Roxham Road.
Despite our questions repeated for a month, Public Services and Procurement Canada refuses to disclose the value of the contract signed with the businessman Pierre Guay, owner of duty-free shops who paid with his son more than $ 25,000 to the Party. Liberal of Canada since 2004. “We cannot disclose the amount of the leases because it is confidential business information from third parties, the lessor,” says the federal agency.
Yet the courts have ruled more than once in the past that details of leases signed by the federal government can be made public.
Criticized from all sides by the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party, in the chamber, the ministers of the Trudeau government have repeatedly said that the price is reasonable, without revealing it.
A refusal that does not hold water, according to an expert
Quebec also must find buildings to accommodate asylum seekers transferred to Montreal pending the processing of their case, after the initial screening. But he does it differently. These migrants are supported by the Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA), which comes under the CIUSSS du Center-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
On Tuesday, the CIUSSS launched a public call for tenders to find 7,552 square meters of accommodation and customer support space, near a metro station, in Montreal.
All prices submitted by potential suppliers will be made public, as required by the standard, and the amount of the contract concluded with the winning bidder will also be public, the CIUSSS confirmed at Press.
Me Michel W. Drapeau, a lawyer specializing in access to information who once served as Secretary General of the Department of National Defense, believes that the reasons cited by Ottawa for keeping the expenditure secret do not hold water.
“We’re doing it on purpose to mix tobacco with yogurt,” he exclaims. It is only what the owner has submitted as an offer that is third party commercial information. As soon as the government signs a lease with the amount and everything, it is no longer information from a third party! ”
“In Quebec, we call it greasing the leg”
For the second day in a row, the opposition parties have hit the nail on the head in the House of Commons.
“The renewal of the federal lease on Roxham Road is another Liberal failure in terms of ethics. The simple fact that the renewal was concluded secretly, without a call for tenders, and that it was awarded, surely by chance, to a liberal contributor, confirms this, ”said Bloc member René Villemure.
“Can anyone on the other side stand up and admit it was a lift back for giving to the Liberal Party?” Added Conservative MP John Brassard.
“In Quebec, we call it greasing the leg,” added the elected, who was born in Montreal but represents the riding of Barrie, Ontario.
Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi repeated the same answer several times. She stressed that the location of the site chosen in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle was ideal for the Border Services Agency and that negotiations had made it possible to find a reasonable and competitive price. “And that’s the price we got,” she hammered.
464
Number of asylum seekers who arrived in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle between the reopening of Roxham Road on November 21 and December 6