Charlottetown criticized for phone service contract

The City of Charlottetown says its purchasing policies have been called into question due to its contract for the city's phone service.

The decision to choose Bell Aliant was made earlier this week at a city council meeting with a close vote of five to four.

But some councillors and competitor Eastlink, which also proposed a contract to the city, say the manner in which the deal was reached isn't fair.

"We were the low bidder, but then we had come to find out that we ended up losing because our competitor had offered some other non-RFP-related items into the deal that, frankly, we didn't have the opportunity to talk about," said Eastlink CEO, Lee Bragg.

"So, we only responded purely based on the telephone services as we were asked to do, and did not throw anything else in to try to sweeten the deal."

In a written statement, the head of the finance committee, Coun. Melissa Hilton says the city did talk to Bell Aliant and the company reduced its bid to $63,000 annually, which is less than Eastlink's bid.

As part of the deal, Hilton says the city will get, what she calls, "significant funding" for the CARI recreational facility.

The city is responsible for 87 per cent of the costs at CARI.

Hilton says she won't comment further until the CARI board makes an announcement next year.

"The announcement that relates to the agreement is not ours to make," Hilton said in the release. "When the details of the funding agreement for the CARI Complex are made public by our partners, we will provide further comment at that time."

Hilton hopes once all the facts are known, residents will support council's decision, which she says was the best deal for the city.

Bell Aliant said in a statement that it doesn't disclose details related to contract negotiations or bidding processes.