General

Federal agency handed four contracts without fair competition

Report concludes contracts worth as much as $80,000 went to favoured workers

The Public Service Commission of Canada cooked four employment contracts to make sure favoured workers got the jobs, according to a report released Monday by Ottawa’s procurement ombudsman. The four sole-source contract jobs were potentially worth as much as $80,000 over four years, The Globe and Mail reports. After a 16-month investigation, the government procurement ombudsman, Frank Brunetta, found that four people were hired by the Public Service Commission without there being proper external competition for the available jobs. The applicants had each already been given at least two contracts with the commission. Brunetta said the Public Service Commission “favoured existing contractors by tailoring requirements, all of which limited fair and open competition for other potential suppliers.”

The Globe and Mail

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