This Corner Brook lawyer says the Liberals broke the law. The Liberals say otherwise.

A lawyer and longtime Liberal supporterin Corner Brook is lashing out at the party, accusing governmentof breaking its own public procurement laws in handing outthe contract for a new Fisheries and Land Resources building in the city.

Then-ministerGerry Byrne, announced on Aug. 24, 2018, that Marine Contractors, a prominent construction company in Corner Brook, had won the bidto provide the department's new office space on Wheeler's Road.

It's not a case of sour grapes.- Graham Watton

Closeto the future site of the city's new hospital, it was a move the province touted as streamlining its operations and saving taxpayer money.

But Graham Watton, the legal counsel for one of the companies that lost the bid, contends there was serious troublewith that bidtrouble that began months before.

Specifically, at 3:05 p.m. on April 16, 2018.

'Ignored' rules, lawyer says

At that time, Watton, along with three civil servants, was in a boardroom of Confederation Building in St. John's. The deadline for bids on the request for proposals (RFP) had just passed, and as per the regulations, the envelope containing the bids was then opened, and the bidding companynames read aloud and recorded.

Wattonsaid he jotted down all the bidsread out, eight in total.Marine Contractors was not among them.

"If you don't have your bid on the particular day in question, then you're disqualified. But here in this particular case, the government ignored it," he said.

The tender report from the Department of Transportation and Works posted online lists seven bids from four different companies, including Marine Contractors.

Watton said that doesn't line up with what he witnessedin the room.

"What the governmentdid, they broke the law.They gave the contract to Marine Contractors, a $20-million contract, andthen they did everything to hide what they did to the public," he said.

Proper procedures followed: gov't

The departmenthas maintained to CBCthat nothing went awry, and that seven bids, including Marine Contractors', were received by the RFP closing date.

In an email, a spokesperson wrote: "the Department of Transportation and Works followed proper procedures and the successful proposal was received in accordance with the terms of the RFP."

The email did not specify whether Marine Contractors' name was read aloud, despite CBC asking for an explanation.

"Ican tell you there is absolutely no evidence of any substance whatsoever to what Mr. Watton has said," Gerry Byrne told CBC News while on the campaign trail.

Wattonis not only legal counsel for Noton Enterprises, the company that failed to secure the contractit's also his wife's company, which held the previous contract leasing office space to the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources.

"It's not a case of sour grapes," he said.

"We're talking about the principles of accountability, we talk about principles of transparency, openness, fairness. This is our whole tendering system, this is the public procurement system we're talking about."

No Liberal loyalty

In the months following the public opening of the bids, when Watton said he realized Marine Contractors was in the RFP running, Wattonwrote again and again to the civil servants involved, as well as to government ministers and even the premier, demanding answers.

That escalated when the election was called: The Telegram published an open letter from Wattonabout the issue, and he left a more detailed versionunder cars'windshield wipersaround Corner Brook.

Watton who himself ran for the Liberals in the 1985 election said any loyalty to the premier or party does "not trump the rule of law." He noted that Dwight Ball's Liberals overhauled the provincial public procurement system in March to make it more transparent and accountable.

"The government made the law," he said, "they broke the law."

Byrne acknowledged that Wattonhas been among the party faithful, but said if Watton has an issue with the RFP, it should play out incourt.

"He has not taken this to a court of law, he's decided instead to take it to a court of public opinion," said Byrne.

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