Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue questions directed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I am very disappointed with his answers, because they were very lacking, to say the least.
Although I can’t quote from a letter that hasn’t been tabled in the House — as of yet, I stress — when you write a letter and say, “I regret to inform you your proposal wasn’t the highest, and by the way, the other proponent was the highest,” that then leads one to realize that the project is going to the other group.
Could the Minister explain to me the involvement that this Abbotsford, B.C., company, this southern company…? Can he enlighten this House as to what their involvement was with MACA over these water treatment facilities on these two proposals of “Water Treatment Facility Proposal” — who knows what that means? — and “Community Water System Efficiencies,” and why did they do their presentation?
Mr. Speaker, I’ll have to inform the Member again that he’s not correct in assuming that the water plant contract has been awarded. Negotiations are still ongoing. There has been a company that has responded to our request for proposals that has contracted with us prior to this and along the same lines as what we have through our requests for proposals in dealing with water plants.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps pretending that a contract isn’t being awarded — or isn’t in the process of being awarded — to this Abbotsford company. The fact is, it’s in the process of being done.
Let’s put semantics away and say, “Look, just because the t’s haven’t been crossed and the i’s haven’t been dotted, the fact is, it is going to this,” because it’s not going to the Northern firm, which could do this project.
Could the Minister explain to this House, or assure this House — and, certainly, demonstrate to this House — how this Abbotsford, B.C., company didn’t play a special role to make sure that when the RFP came out in August of last year, they didn’t already have everything all set up so they were the only obvious choice? Could he demonstrate that to this House?
Mr. Speaker, the only person pretending here is the Member. He’s pretending not to hear my answers.
Laughter.
Mr. Speaker, the contract hasn’t been awarded. There is a fairness process that was put in place as part of this request for proposals, and we have an independent evaluation team, along with an independent evaluator, that is ensuring a fair process is there. We have provided all the information to all the proponents who took part. We have the Department of Justice, and we have three other departments that are working with us. The process is fair, Mr. Speaker.
However, the contract hasn’t been awarded, and it is difficult to speak to this issue.
I guess if the Minister can give hypothetical answers, you know…. And it kind of puts me in an unfair position, because I can’t ask hypothetical questions to get the facts.
If we’re going to live in this sort of hypothetical world, are they in negotiations with this Northern company, or are they in negotiations with this Abbotsford, B.C., company for these water treatment plants?
Mr. Speaker, the question, of course, is hypothetical. The Member is asking me for information that may influence the outcome of our negotiations, and I can’t respond to that.
Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, we seem to continue to dance around the fact that when you write a letter and you say, “We regret to inform you, you didn’t get it,” that leaves us one option: the other group. Unless you’re cancelling the whole project, maybe….
Or maybe that’s the issue: the Minister has decided to sole-source it to an Abbotsford, B.C., company. Maybe that’s the problem. I’ve been asking the wrong question.
Are you sole-sourcing this project to the Abbotsford, B.C., company, without giving the Northern company — the one that’s done these types of jobs for years — a chance to do the job where they would employ local people, keep the money north and….?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, the answer to that question, of course, is no, we’re not sole-sourcing.
