Denis Gallant questions tendering for Ste-Catherine Street makeover

Denis Gallant, the man hired by the City of Montreal to fight corruption by keeping tabs on city works contracts, is sounding the alarm after the tendering process for theSte-Catherine Street renewal project restricted the bidder pool to only a few firms.

• Ste-Catherine Street in downtown Montreal to be revitalized
• Construction to revamp Ste-Catherine St. worries merchants

Acertyswas the uncontested winner of a $267,000 contract to carry out consultations on Ste-Catherine Street West.

Acertys was awarded the contract in March, but it wasnt until Inspector-General Denis Gallant tabled his 25-page report on Monday that the uncontested nature of the tendering process was forced into the spotlight.

"It was not fair at all. All the rules of equity were not followed by the department at the city,"Gallant told CBC's Daybreak on Tuesday.

Renewal part of 375thanniversary project

Part of the conditions laid out in the initial call fortenders was that bidding companies needed to have atleast 20 years of experience with these types of public projectsand needed to have completedat least two previous consulting contracts that exceeded $100,000.

"Everything was so restrictive that most of the bidders who would have been able to bid, because of the restrictive rules, did not bid,"Gallant said.

"Everything [in that contract] is terrible from A to Z."

Gallantsaid the city should have required 15 years of experience "at the most."

He said that if he had the power to cancel contracts, he would do so in this case.

The Ste-Catherine Street renewal project is part of Mayor Denis Coderres plans for Montreals 375th anniversary celebration.