Evidence of meeting #32 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sauvé.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
When the contract was taken away from LM Sauvé, L'UNIQUE General Insurance was called on because of the bond. Who checked L'UNIQUE General Insurance's credentials as a bonding company?
Senior Director, Real Property Contracting Directorate, Department of Public Works and Government Services
L'UNIQUE General Insurance is a registered bonding company…on the list of all the bonding companies approved by Treasury Board. It has also been an active participant in the Surety Association of Canada for several years. L'UNIQUE General Insurance is financially a very capable company. That is all the checking we do.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
So your assumption is that, if a bonding company is approved by Treasury Board, it is okay.
Senior Director, Real Property Contracting Directorate, Department of Public Works and Government Services
What is important for us is knowing that the company is strong and has the financial means that we need.
Bloc
Senior Director, Real Property Contracting Directorate, Department of Public Works and Government Services
To handle all the remedial work. When a contractor does not provide the performance we need and we have to move them off the site, a lot of adjustments have to be made with a lot of people. The insurance company pays for all those things.
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Mr. Leclerc, between May 30, 2008, the date on which the contract was awarded to LM Sauvé, and April 20, 2009, the date on which the contract with them was terminated, how many meetings did you, or someone from your department, have with LM Sauvé people? Do you have documents pertaining to those meetings?
Senior Director, Real Property Contracting Directorate, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Documents exist. I do not have them. Once again, when a contract is awarded, there are meetings every two weeks, I imagine, between the project management team and the technical side, with Pierre-Marc Mongeau and Robert Wright, just like on any normal site.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
So let me talk to Mr. Wright or to someone who can answer my question.
Between May 2008 and April 20, 2009, when things with LM Sauvé were not going well, was the minister advised?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
No, the minister was not advised. It is a major project, but the authority lies with the officials.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Yes, in our teams.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Once the budget for restoring the buildings is approved, the department is responsible. Correct me if I am wrong, but the minister is never advised of anything, except if a contract starts to go off the rails. Is that correct?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Acquisitions Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
That's absolutely normal process that the minister's office would not be advised. We have 60,000 contracts and amendments every year. It is quite a normal process for the minister's office to have no involvement whatsoever in the actual administration of the contract--quite normal.
Liberal
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the witnesses for being here.
Is there any indication of political involvement in the contract awarded to LM Sauvé?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
As I mentioned earlier, we checked e-mails and we interviewed our employees to see if in fact there was any involvement of any kind. All our employees said no. So there is no evidence of any.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Was anyone from the minister's office involved in the awarding of the contract?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Throughout the entire process, which is managed by public servants, it is those public servants who look after all contracts. As I also mentioned earlier, the criteria used had already been developed for a previous project in 2005. So it was a logical progression of our expertise in contracting and also on the technical side.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Did Gilles Varin, or any other lobbyist, come into contact with anyone from Public Works with a view to working on this project?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
As we mentioned a few minutes ago, after looking at all the e-mails and checking with our employees on both the contracting side and the technical side, we found no information of that kind. We have no evidence of it.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
Who made the decision to award the contract to LM Sauvé and what was the procurement process used in awarding it?
Senior Director, Real Property Contracting Directorate, Department of Public Works and Government Services
The procurement process is such that the decision was made by the technical and contract teams, under the authority delegated to them, and for which it was not necessary to get the minister's approval. The level of authority is determined by the amount of the contracts. In the case we are dealing with, because the amount permitted, the contract was approved by the assistant deputy minister at the time, Mr. Ring's predecessor.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
The process is about delegated authority? Is that what you are trying to explain?
