How the NCC evaluation of LeBreton Flats proposals took place

Documents released to CBC News under access to information shed more light on the way the bids to redevelop LeBreton Flats were evaluated, but the National Capital Commission held back the scores each bid received.

The NCC's evaluation process for the competition to redevelop 21 hectares in downtown Ottawa was severely criticized by the team that ranked second in the hours before a gag order fell on May 5.

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The day the consortium issued its rebuke, Devcore, Canderel, and DLS Group's Daniel Peritz said he was "shocked and astonished" that competitor RendezVous LeBreton Group ranked higher, because he said the NCC had clearly asked for public uses and limited residential development, and felt his group delivered better on that front. ​

DCDLS demanded to see the scorecard.

CBC also requested the scorecards for the two bids, but those evaluations were held back by the NCC, along with other meeting minutes that would provide more specifics as to what made RendezVous LeBreton Group come out on top.

The NCC cited exemptions from access laws related to financial information, as well as to any advice, deliberations and negotiating positions developed for a government institution.

Evaluating 'two fierce competitors'

The documents provided more detail about what the evaluators did leading up to the big announcement in April, even if the substance of those talks wasn't disclosed.

The evaluation team of five was chaired by Stephen Willis, the NCC executive who is about to leave the crown corporation for the private sector, as well as NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson, NCC director of real estate transactions and development Marco Zanetti, architect Jack Diamond, and real estate consultant Mark Conroy.

They were given the proposals in early January to evaluate on their own for several weeks, and then met as a committee over four days in mid-February at the Canadian War Museum.

The ground rules were laid out: evaluate the bids in their own right and don't compare them, maintain strict confidentiality and don't speak of the process even to family, and evaluate the bids against the criteria laid out in the request for proposals.

At that first meeting, the NCC's Yannick Bouchard, who acted as secretary, explained their task: 

"You have in front of you two fierce competitors that have invested a lot of time, efforts, and money to get their proposal out. Always keep in mind in discussions that one will lose, and that we'll have to explain to that group the reasons why."

According to the meeting minutes, they were then given 20 minutes to read the report summing up public feedback on the LeBreton bids, before starting their meetings.

After a random draw, one day was spent on the RendezVous LeBreton proposal with its arena and abilities centre, the second day on the DCDLS bid with its multiple attractions, the third day was to look at remaining issues, and a fourth day was for signing off on evaluation grids.

Twenty subject matter experts weighed in with reports that could help the committee on complicated issues such as transportation at LeBreton Flats and sustainability issues.

One of the Devcore, Canderel and DLS Group's criticisms related to whether the light rail tracks at LeBreton could indeed be covered over, a design element the NCC found appealing in RendezVous LeBreton's proposal.

Those expert reports were also withheld by the NCC.

Board asked questions before public unveiling

When the NCC's Stephen Willis finally announced the winning bid on April 28, he mentioned that the board had come to Ottawa early, and toured LeBreton Flats two days earlier.

• BLOG RECAP |​ LeBreton Flats selection committee presents winner to NCC Board

Questions from NCC board members at that public, high-profile meeting were few, but minutes show that at the closed-door technical briefing two days earlier, the board asked questions and made comments about "financial information" and "viability and feasibility of the proposals."

June 28 will be the first NCC board meeting since the one at which the LeBreton evaluation was revealed.

It's still not clear whether RendezVous LeBreton and the NCC have in fact begun negotiating a landmark deal for the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats, but NCC CEO Kristmanson is expected to give a brief update on that at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting.