Thank you very much, Chair.
Colleagues, consistent with the chair saying that all we can do is make a request of Auditor General, none of my comments in my question in the House have concluded that there was something wrong, but there's certainly enough around this issue.
For those of you who don't know, Canada Post was advised by Air Canada that within 120 days they were no longer going to be able to provide their airmail service. There were a couple of calls made out to some potential bidders, and then they were notified that it was all right, they weren't going that route; they were just going to go with Purolator.
The concern is that it's over $100 million, I think, over three years. There is a personal connection between somebody who is on the board of Purolator, which is owned by Canada Post, and the ultimate agency, because there was another airline that was contracted by Purolator. There are connections there.
So the issue becomes, was it necessary to source, or should this have been put out for public tender? Since I asked my question in the House, I can tell you that I've received a letter from Cargojet. I've never spoken to anybody there and I don't know anybody there that I'm aware of. This came to me after I asked my question in the House. I'll be glad to share it with colleagues. Their letter says in part:
The unilateral decision by Canada Post and its Board, to circumvent the normal bid process and award this major contract to an insider company, whose owner sits on the Board of and owns 7% of Purolator Courier, a subsidiary of Canada Post. The aircraft that are being provided by Kelowna Flightcraft were apparently sourced and selected well prior to this opportunity becoming public knowledge and this contract ultimately being awarded. The lack of transparency in the awarding of this major contract is clearly evident and as anyone can determine by the many responses/comments attached to the Globe and Mail article, there's a genuine concern that there may be a serious breach of acceptable government procurement and bid process, and how and to whom this major government contract....
So when these kinds of things are raised, it's not only political; there are competitors out there who have a concern. All I'm asking is that this committee endorse the request of the Auditor General to take a look. If there are no problems, there are no problems, but there needs to be some transparency on this. So that's the request.
Thanks, Chair.