The strange goings on in Federal government contracting continue. In followup to last week’s post (read it if you haven’t already), my source sends this update;
Sequle: Well on the morning of 25 Janaury 2006, bidders sent an inquiry to their PWGSC Contract Authority – remember our bid validity expired today – and received a fax later this afternoon stating that Societ� Gamma (a private Ottawa firm) had been awarded $3.6 million to provide translation services for Treasury Board Secretariat. Apparently PWGSC still cannot discuss this matter with bidders and of course no one knows if this is an additional contract or if Lexi-tech International (owned by JD Irving) still gets to keep the original $3.6 million they were awarded in late December 2005. What to do, what to do?
And since this is a sequel, anyone having access to MERX should go to the Contract Awards link and view how many contracts were awarded on 23 January 2006 – The Immigration and Refugee Board posted contract awards for several translation contracts on that date (impeccable timing, ey wot?) – and this after the Project Authority at IRB had promised bidders on a weekly basis starting with the first week of December that results would be posted before Christmas. Then she didn’t respond to e-mails or phone calls either. And on election day, VOILA – results released.
Whatever are these people trying to hide? And are public servants allowed to lie or is that common human failing only something us common folk are held accountable for? Just asking. And of course documentation, mounds of it actually, exists for anyone who can help disseminate this.
Think of all the other millions of dollars awarded on 23 Janaury – this is just the tip of the heap of dead fish..
This is something the incoming government has to take a hard look at. If there is evidence that contracts were pushed through on behalf of favoured companies in anticipation of a government defeat, resignations and firings are in order.
On the other hand, perhaps this suggestion may work as well.
Today’s Toronto Star titled:
“Harper may expose Liberals’ skeletons”
has this statement as part of the article:
“Stephen Harper is promising to pull back the curtain on yet more misspending by the outgoing government.”
Excellent article;suing to get the missing $40M back was included.
I hope that they start with the Relocation Scandal as a ‘primer’. Go get ’em troops.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1138315820015&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home
“Harper may expose Liberals’ skeletons”
Perhaps they need to look into this as well. There seem to be one too many unanswered questions to ignore.
“…Sorry folks, you just don’t have a clue what’s really happening here. So listen up…
8.What is the relationship between CAC, Lansdowne Technologies and Canada Steamship Lines?….Now, please, step back from the Abotech smokescreen and look at the bigger picture. I implore you to join the dots….”
http://www.stevejanke.com/archives/141985.php
http://tinyurl.com/d2wue
http://www.google.ca/search?q=Lansdowne+Technologies+&hl=en&lr=&start=10&sa=N
http://www.onlinedemocracy.ca/CAIRS/nov05.txt
I like the “truth and reconcilliation commission” idea. I think we have to take a long term view on this. Whereas prosecutions and jail time might produce some immediate gratification, it will also certainly produce a bunker mentality making it difficult to tease open the full extent of the rot. Better for the long term to expose and dismantle the apparatus of corruption and institute appropriate safeguards. Otherwise one bunch of crooks will simply be back-filled by another bunch of crooks next time the Libs get into power.
Point well taken about the bunker mentality, but Canadians need something NOW that hits at their core to believe what has been going on and the Relocation Scandal is it.
Not big by other standards…perhaps a few tens of millions? The elite and friends tanning on a Waikiki beach while the taxpayers are shovelling driveways is too important not to get out.
Especially when the shovellers paid for it.