Untendered $24,999 contract to Tory-linked firm flies under the radar—by $1
According to the Department of Finance, a former Conservative staffer with Toronto-based consulting firm Playbook Communications was playing by the book when he landed an sole-source contract to help the minister’s office prepare for the budget, the Ottawa Citizen reports. Playbook founder Mike Van Soelen, who worked as communications director for then-Treasury Board president John Baird until he left government in 2007, provided “communications strategy and support” for the release of the 2009 budget.