By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Quebec’s public sector financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP), has banned a Brome Lake excavation company from bidding for public contracts for a period of five years after what the company’s co-owner said was a good-faith error.
On July 17, the AMP announced that Brome Lake-based Excavation André Choinière had been added to the registry of companies inadmissible for public contracts.
“The company, which carries out excavation and leveling work, as well as snow and ice removal on roads, notably tendered and obtained a contract worth more than $1 million from the Town of Brome Lake without holding an authorization to contract when it was required,” AMP spokesperson Stéphane Hawey said in a statement. The AMP also accused the company of bidding for two contracts over $1 million while unregistered and failing to submit documentation in a timely manner.
The contract at the heart of the dispute is a five-year snow removal contract for the Iron Hill sector, initially awarded to Excavation André Choinière last year by the Town of Brome Lake (TOBL). The company was the only bidder for the contract, having previously bid for a similar contract and been disqualified because it wasn’t registered with the AMP. “The town negotiated with us to bring us down [below the threshold] and to ease the burden on the taxpayer,” said co-owner Greg Barr.
The municipality received a warning from the AMP in January after an anonymous complaint; the five-year contract was ultimately voided and replaced with a single-season contract for last winter – in line with the AMP’s own recommendations, TOBL director general Gilbert Arel told the BCN at the time.
“These are relatively new requirements and we were not aware we needed to register with the AMP in order to bid,” said Barr, whose company has not had previous dealings with the AMP. “We are a small contractor and have never had anything over $1 million.” Hawey, the AMP spokesperson, said the registration requirement for service providers bidding on contracts over $1 million was introduced in 2012, and service providers must be registered before submitting any bid over the threshold.
The company ultimately “decided not to register – just not to bid on contracts over $1 million in the future.” That decision, Barr explained, was why the company did not provide certain documents the regulator requested.
“We acted in good faith and I don’t know why they came down so hard on us,” Barr said, adding that he was considering legal options.
For Arel, the AMP decision complicates the city’s snow removal plans. “There are not many contractors in the region bidding on this type of contract; obviously one less player makes the process more risky for financial considerations and availability of service,” he told the BCN. “All options are being studied by the city to ensure service delivery next winter.”