Ottawa says it will take 270 days to determine if it can reveal how much money was paid without a tender to a major Liberal donor to house asylum seekers entering Canada via Roxham Road in Monteregie.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
The Press has made a formal request to Public Services and Procurement Canada under the Access to Information Act, to obtain the leases. Although the law gives the government 30 days to respond, an official advised our representatives on Thursday that an additional 240 days was needed because officials would have to do “consultations” before determining whether to make the documents public.
However, the courts have already determined in the past that leases signed by the federal government constitute public information.
Several contracts
The Press revealed in December that the government had rented for 10 years, without a call for tenders, the land of a major contributor to the Liberal Party of Canada in order to house migrants who cross the border irregularly via Roxham Road and civil servants who welcome them.
Pierre Guay, owner of the duty-free shop at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing and the hotel located next door, has racked up contracts in recent years thanks to the influx of thousands of asylum seekers into the region.
Ottawa first rented rooms in its hotel, then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police awarded a half-million-dollar contract to one of its companies to help the police force improve his local detachment.
For its part, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has set up a large camp with temporary facilities for officials and asylum seekers on Mr. Guay’s land. A first lease was signed by the federal government with its company for the years 2017 to 2021 inclusive, without a call for tenders. Last year, a second lease, again without a call for tenders, was signed for the next five years.
$23,000 in donations to the Liberals
Neither the CBSA nor Public Services and Procurement Canada has agreed to disclose the amount of the leases. Criticized by the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party in the House, Ministers Marc Miller, Sean Fraser and Filomena Tassi defended the rigor of the process, but did not reveal the sums paid to Pierre Guay.
Reached by phone, Mr. Guay also declined to comment. “I have nothing to do with it. Call the government, call the customs department, they’ll give it all to you,” he said.
Between 2004 and today, according to Elections Canada data, Pierre Guay has donated approximately $23,000 to the Liberal Party of Canada. His son, who is also involved in the family business, donated around $2,500 to the party in 2018 and 2019.
Pierre Guay also gave nearly $4,000 to the Conservative Party between 2007 and 2015, while the party was in power, without ceasing to fund the Liberals. Since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, he no longer gives to the Conservatives.