MONTREAL – Montreal’s auditor general has again found a trail of broken rules, irregular procedures and loose spending on municipal contracts that carry hefty price tags. Auditor General Jacques Bergeron’s annual report was tabled at a city council meeting Monday night.
A large portion of the report slams two city contracts that have made headlines in recent weeks – one with the telecommunications company Telus and the other with the security firm BCIA.
The $87-million Telus contract, awarded in 2008, has been fraught with delays and the allotted budget is already spent, Bergeron’s report says.
BCIA is at the centre of controversy in the national assembly over links with members of Premier Jean Charest’s cabinet.
The firm acquired a contract to provide a security detail at Montreal police department headquarters from another firm that won the contract before the city executive committee had voted to go to tenders, Bergeron’s report shows.
The opposition parties at Montreal city hall accused Mayor Gerald Tremblay’s administration of trying to railroad democracy Monday night after Coun. Marvin Rotrand, the leader of the majority on council, refused their requests to release the much-anticipated report by the city’s auditor general at the start of a council meeting rather than near the end.
They also peppered the administration with questions about the city’s links to BCIA.
Vision Montreal Coun. Anie Samson charged that city council had not approved a contract between BCIA and the police department since 2006, yet the firm continued to provide security at police headquarters and receive payment over the last four years.
"There has been no contract in our records," she said in the councillors’ question period. "How are we giving cheques to a company that is not registered (in city records)?"
City executive committee member Claude Trudel, who is responsible for public safety, acknowledged that there had been an "administrative error" involving BCIA’s services. However, he said, as of Monday a new company is providing security at police headquarters. He added that he’ll convene city council’s public safety committee early next week to examine the BCIA case at a public meeting.
The opposition also questioned Trudel on outgoing police chief Yvan Delorme’s reported lunches with BCIA majority shareholder Luigi Coretti in 2005, before he was appointed police chief.
Delorme announced his retirement from the force this month, but gave no reason for his sudden departure.
"There won’t be a scandal," Trudel said Monday night. "I put all my trust in (Delorme)."
But Vision Coun. Real Menard said the public has no guarantees that there was no security breach at the police department.
Earlier in the evening, members of the opposition urged council speaker Claude Dauphin in vain to use his authority to override Rotrand as the meeting began, saying they needed time to read what they expected to be an explosive report likely to spark another corruption scandal at city hall. Last year’s auditor general’s report on the city’s $355.8-million water-management contract led to an ongoing police investigation.
Dauphin said the rules that govern council meetings don’t permit him to unilaterally change the order of items on the agenda.
Meanwhile, Quebec’s chief electoral officer announced Monday it will conduct a formal investigation into the way former provincial family minister Tony Tomassi’s LaFontaine riding association fundraising has been operating.
The probe comes following newspaper reports that Coretti – a personal friend of Tomassi – used managers in BCIA to funnel cash to Quebec Liberal Party.
Tomassi was fired May 6 by Charest after the premier confronted Tomassi about reports he used a gasoline credit card which BCIA furnished him.
Charest has also asked police to look into Tomassi’s use of the credit card.
Montreal Gazette
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