If we can learn anything from the recent awarding of the untendered Montreal metro car contract, it's that when push comes to shove, in Quebec, the fix is always in.
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Historically, this dirty business of fixing contracts, has almost always been conducted behind closed doors, beyond public scrutiny and media purview. But backed into a corner by the courts and a clearly superior foreign bid, the Liberal government decided to brazen it out, the prize just too big to give away to outsiders.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the shameful betrayal of fair and free trade is the fact that the government knew it could count on the opposition to support its '
Quebec 1st' policy because in the end, Quebec politicians of every stripe believe in the same thing, which is fair trade when Quebec is advantaged and protectionism when it is not.
Even the conservative Action democratique and the ultra left wing Quebec solidaire parties voted with the Parti Quebecois and the government to unanimously pass a law that bypassed the tender process to reward another Quebec company, Bombardier, with an uncompetitive contract.
In fact, the very best excuse for voting for the bill came from our good friend Amir Khadir, who actually praised Bombardier,(usually a foil for separatists and leftists) as good corporate citizen who "
respects our laws, the environment, pays its taxes and respects our language."
Karl Marx must be spinning in his grave.
"
Quebec solidaire agrees with the protection of quality jobs in Quebec's regions,"
Mr. Khadr is right about one thing, if there's anything that Quebeckers know a thing or two about, it's protection and price-fixing.
These dirty practices predate the sovereignist movement and the rise of big government, so the
Maclean's article which cited those reasons for the extreme level of corruption in Quebec is clearly wrong.
Perhaps that was the major flaw of the piece, coming to unsupportable and faulty conclusions.
It left Quebec apologists an easy out, they quickly pounced on the author's mistake in over-reaching and allowed them to once more pull out the old chestnut of 'Quebec-bashing.'
Yes, even before separatists and big government existed, corruption was part and parcel of the Quebec landscape. Back in the day, the partisan nature of government contracts was so pervasive that it reached down to the lowly contracts for snow removal on public highways where political loyalties were the over-riding consideration. Contractors were designated either 'red' or 'blue' and winning a contract was more dependent on the government of the day, than the price of the bid.
The powerful agricultural lobby has always worked with compliant politicians to artificially raise prices by creating 'floor' prices for such staples as butter and milk. Until a couple of years ago the industry kept margarine from being coloured yellow, ostensibly to avoid confusion between it and the real McCoy, butter. So fierce was this protection that the government actually raided a Wal-Mart that dared sell yellow margarine imported from another province.
To this day, in Montreal, you can hardly visit a new car dealer on the week-end, as the industry colludes to keep their doors closed and keep weekends free for employees. Dealers who have opposed this prohibition, have suffered assorted 'bad luck," like rocks being thrown through their showroom windows, in a not so subtle reminder not to buck the 'collective' decision.
Recently, a group of gas stations in the Easter Townships was charged with colluding to fix the price of gasoline at their pumps. Consumers are now in the process of a class action suit to recover the ill-gotten profits.
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Perhaps the most egregious abuse is that which takes place in the civil service where contracts subject to the tender process are also said to be rigged. A software developer recently confided that he was asked to make an uncompetitive bid so that the favoured vendor would win the bidding process. "Don't worry" he was promised, "Your turn will come."
In Montreal, this process is legendary in relation to the bidding on public works contracts.
It is alleged that a group of thirteen construction companies divvy up the pie and outsiders are 'convinced' that biding is not in their own interest. ahem....
The recent media attention directed at these so-called fixed contracts has had a surprising benefit. A city official has told the media that tender prices for municipal contract has plummeted by 30% since the publicity!
There are voices being raised, a Trois-Rivières company has lodged a complaint against the city of Drummondville with the Quebec municipal affairs department, claiming that its bid for a contact, some $200,000 cheaper than the winner, was subject to bid manipulation.
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So nothing has really changed over time, except for the scale of the frauds that have matched the growth of government.
In response to the Maclean's article, we were promised by many editorial writers that Quebeckers were ready to shake off the embarrassing history of corruption and as proof offered up the fact that Quebeckers are now demanding that the province open a public inquiry into the construction industry, the province's most corrupt sector.
But the metro car scandal is sad confirmation that this supposed fresh wind of honesty, blowing across the province, is illusory.
Nothing has really changed and the truth remains that Quebeckers are still firmly attached to the concept of cheating.
The real scandal of the metro car fiasco is not that the government pulled a 'fast one.' It's that it did it with the opposition's help and public compliance.
Without the public's acceptance, it would be impossible to continue the corrupt
practices that pervade all levels of government and the civil service. This fact is profoundly sad.
While talking a good game, Quebeckers have only themselves to blame. By not rising up in abject rage against the abusive metro contract, the public has sent a signal, that is business as usual.
And so, once again, the benefits winning jobs at the expense of fair trade are too attractive. The attitude isn't much different from a parent who tolerates a teenager's shoplifting, as long as they bring home something of value.
As for corruption in the Province of Quebec, it seems that 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.'
