Quebec moving ahead with new watchdog for public works contracts

The Quebec government is moving ahead with plansto create a new provincial watchdog forpublic contracts, one of the key recommendations of the Charbonneau commission into corruption .

CarlosLeitao, Quebec's minister of finance and government administration, saysa new bill will be presented to the National Assembly before the end of the session."This organization will be the province's watchdog for public contracts,"Leitaosaid.

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"It will allow for permanent surveillance of how contracts are managed, at TransportsQubecand across the government."

The authority would have the power to investigate complaints in the awarding of contracts and intervene when necessary,Leitaosaid.

"Our goal for creating this authority is assure that calls for tender do not restrain competition and that contracts are granted in a way that's fair and transparent," he said.

Auditor general to look into Transport Ministry contacts

The government also announced Tuesdaythat the province's Auditor General GylaineLeclercwillinvestigate the management of public contracts awarded by Transports Qubec.

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The move comes in the wake of allegations of intimidation and corruption in the awarding of contracts at the ministry, which resulted in thefirings last week of deputy transport minister, DominiqueSavoie, and the transport minister's chief of staff, PierreOuellet.

Leitao said the auditor general's investigation will look into the findings of Annie Trudel,a former investigator with the provincial anti-corruption unithired by Robert Poeti during his tenure as transport ministerto investigatethe department.

Trudeloutlined her findings in a letter sent to Ouelletin April announcing her resignation.

She attributed her departure to frustrations withher investigation getting nowhere due to roadblocks and difficultiesobtaining information from the ministry.

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Noting that TransportsQubecawards a significant portion of the province's $20 billion in public contracts,Leitaosaid it's "only normal" that the auditor general should ensure the awarding of those contracts conformwith government regulations.

Poeti's removal as transport minister raisedquestions

Concerns about shady dealings at Transports Qubec surfaced publicly in a recent interview that Poeti, whowas replaced by Daoustas transport minister in January, gave to the French-language magazine L'actualit.

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The story detailed Poeti's claims that Transports Qubec employees were being intimidated into awarding contracts to certain people and that cost overruns on public projects were being hidden.

Poeti told the magazine he asked Savoie to intervene in some situations and change certain practices, but he was shuffled out of cabinet in January.

Savoiesaid last week that she's done nothing wrong.

The situation led to accusations from opposition party MNAs that Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard replaced Poeti to stifle his work in uncovering and fixing the irregularities within the ministry.

Couillard said he only learned of Poeti's concerns in April through a letter Poeti wrote toDaoust outlining his concerns.

Among the things that Poeti points out is that ex-employees of theministryhad been awarded contracts without tender.

Poeti satisifed with new measures

Poeti said Tuesday that he's satisfied withthe new measures announced on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe this was a positive step in the right direction for the people of Quebec," he said.

No time frame was given for the auditor general's investigation, butDaoust said his ministry would not wait for the auditor general's final report to take action.

"If she comes to us [during her investigation] and says this has to change, we'll make the changes immediately," he said.