Montreal senior official tried to skew contract bid, report finds

A senior official at Montreal's City Hall tried to skew the bidding process so his friend's company could win a contract, according to the 2015 report from the city's independent watchdog into corruption.

Denis Gallant, the city's inspector general, cited several irregularities during the contract bidding process in his report released Monday.

Witnesses said the official was in contact with the company's owner during the bidding process and had selected members of a selection committee.

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The call-for-tenders was cancelled after the office presented its findings to the senior city official, who adamantly denied the allegations made by witnesses.

The senior official involved no longer works for the city, Gallant told CBC's French-language service, Radio-Canada, on Tuesday.

"The person is no longer working for the city, and I'm very happy," he said.

"The people who came forward are still there, and they are happy to do their work."

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre says the presence of the inspector general, a position he created in 2014, means city employees are no longer getting away with unethical or illegal behaviour. The system works, and other cities should follow suit, said Coderre.

"We are doing what it takes: We are changing the chapter on what happened in the past," Coderre said.

Gallant's report, however, provides few details about the contract and doesn't identify the individual involved.

Calls for transparency

Some are calling for greater transparency as a result.

"The inspector general doesn't name the individual who did this, does not name the beneficiary of this arrangement, does not name the division of the civil service of where this took place and does not give us an idea of what consequences were imposed on the employee in question," Projet Montréal councillor Alexis Norris said.

The city's executive committee's Lionel Perez stood by the report.

"The inspector general has his reasons why he didn't release that information," Perez said. 

"There are other cases where he clearly identifies individuals who were found at fault."

The annual report reveals that 130 investigations are ongoing, five cases were referred to UPAC and 400 witnesses were met by the inspector general.