Public Works

Contractor whistleblower in fight with Public Works after asbestos exposure

Sujets: 
Prisons, Workplace conditions, Public health & safety, Public Works, PSIC, Mario Dion, Asbestos industry, Audio
Scores: 
0

Julie Ireton – April 25, 2013

Don Garrett says it should have been one of the simplest construction jobs he'd ever done. Instead, the British Columbia contractor said he was exposed to high levels of asbestos, almost lost his business and has been fighting with federal government bureaucrats for more than three years.

"I was taking this material home, it was on my clothes. I didn’t know I was dealing with asbestos so it entered my household," said Garrett. Garrett owns a construction business in Hope, B.C. In 2009, he was contracted by Public Works Government Services Canada to replace 160 sinks and toilets inside the Kent Institution — a maximum security, federal prison in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

'Secret' F-35 letter to AG's office downgraded later

Sujets: 
Government transparency, Public Works, National Defence, Procurement process
Scores: 
0

Tim Naumetz – May 9, 2012

A letter from the Public Works deputy minister revealing internal concern about sole-sourcing the $25-billion F-35 stealth jet project, while defending the decision against criticism from Auditor General Michael Ferguson, was originally classified as “secret” when it was sent to Mr. Ferguson last February.

The secret classification, which Mr. Ferguson’s office told The Hill Times on Wednesday would have prevented the auditor general’s office from using the information or revealing it, was downgraded two weeks later at the AG’s office’s request and resent with a lower security classification, according to a note at the bottom by Public Works deputy minister François Guimond.

How to do the jet purchase properly

Sujets: 
Public Works, National Defence, Procurement process
Scores: 
3

Alan William – April 6, 2012

On Tuesday, Auditor General Michael Ferguson released his spring report, which included a severe criticism of the government's proposed purchase of F-35 fighter jets. But the AG could have gone even further in his findings and recommendations.

The first question asked of the AG in his press conference was "who is accountable" for this mess? He provided no clear response.

Cabinet knew F-35's cost: auditor

Sujets: 
Government ethics, Government transparency, Public Works, National Defence, Procurement process
Scores: 
0

Lee Berthiaume – April 6, 2012

Canada's auditor general dropped a bombshell Thursday when he said the Conservative government would have known before the last election that the F-35 fighter jet program would cost at least $10 billion more than what National Defence was telling Parliament and the public.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson refused to say whether the government allowed Canadians to be misled, but his comments have thrown more fuel onto a fire that has already seen the opposition call for House Speaker Andrew Scheer to launch an investigation.

Gagliano has 'no time' for talk about his past

Sujets: 
Corruption, Public Works
Scores: 
4
Alphonso Gagliano

Stephen Maher – October 24, 2011

Last week, after Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced that he will launch a public inquiry into Quebec's corrupt construction industry, I called Alfonso Gagiliano to ask him if he would spare a few minutes to talk about the old days.

Gagliano, who Justice John Gomery found was the "hands-on manager" responsible for the sponsorship scandal, is now retired from politics, running a vineyard in Dunham, in Quebec's Eastern Townships.

Rigging alleged in awarding of government relocation deal

Sujets: 
Corruption, Public Works, Conflict of interest
Scores: 
3

Andrew Seymour – September 22, 2011

The losing bidder for a billion-dollar contract to relocate Canada's military, RC-MP and public servants levelled allegations of bid-rigging and an ensuing attempt at a coverup against the federal government on the first day of a civil trial Wednesday.

Bruce Atyeo, president of Envoy Relocation Services, is seeking $62 million in damages and is accusing Public Works of having a conflict of interest when it twice awarded a competitor, Royal LePage Relocation Services, the contract to provide the services in 2002 and again in 2004.

Bid rigging alleged against Ottawa-based consultancy

Sujets: 
Corruption, Public Works
Scores: 
4

Daniel Leblanc – January 12, 2011

One of the federal government’s biggest suppliers of real-estate consultants and experts engaged in bid rigging to keep a near monopoly on the lucrative work, the Competition Bureau alleges in new court documents.

From 2004 to 2007, an Ottawa-based consultancy called the Corporate Research Group (CRG) got $31.8-million worth of work from Public Works and Government Services Canada, or almost all of the department’s real-estate business.

Powell's War

Sujets: 
Procurement process, Corruption, Public Works, Government ethics
Scores: 
0
Doug Powell

James Bagnall – November 16, 2010

Don Powell did not want to spend the last few years of his lengthy, lucrative career doing this. The 61- year-old owner and president of TPG Technology is suffering the ignominy of criminal bid-rigging charges laid nearly two years ago and the strain of rebuilding his business in the wake of a major contract loss in 2007.

He hurts, too, from the effects of a busted knee -- the result of a motorcycle accident years ago. But his demeanour is surprisingly upbeat. "Before this, I'd been treated fairly," he says. "But I still have a lot of friends in government. It's not like everyone in there is upset at us."

Company repays more than $300,000 after Public Works audit

Sujets: 
PSDPA, Public Works, Procurement process
Scores: 
0

Federal investigation followed conflict of interest complaint against former assistant deputy minister

Daniel Leblanc – July 23, 2010

Ottawa has just recouped more than $300,000 from a major supplier that was recently at the centre of a conflict of interest probe involving a senior bureaucrat.

Public Works Canada launched an audit in the fall of 2008 into the work of the Corporate Research Group after allegations that the department’s former assistant deputy minister, Tim McGrath, gave preferential treatment to the company because he was a friend of its president, Brian Card.

Tories blocked full release of sensitive Public Works report

Sujets: 
Public Works, Access to information, Political misconduct
Scores: 
5

Dean Beeby, The Canadian Press – Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010

Ottawa — A federal cabinet minister's aide killed the release of a sensitive report requested under freedom-of-information in a case eerily similar to a notorious incident in the sponsorship scandal.

A bureaucrat had to make a mad dash to the department's mailroom last July to retrieve the report at the last minute under orders from a senior aide to then-Public Works minister Christian Paradis.

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