November 18, 2012
On Friday, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Public Works has toughened its integrity rules, with the result that CRG Consulting (which pleaded guilty to criminal bid-rigging in July) has been banned from bidding on future Public Works contracts. According to Public Works it “… will not enter into a contract or real property transaction, or accept bids from companies convicted of listed offences (such as bid-rigging) unless they have received a pardon.”
This recent public procurement development means that the risk of non-compliance for firms bidding for public sector contracts has now been raised further, in addition to other recent criminal competition law developments that include the elimination of conditional sentences (i.e., sentences served in the community) for some Competition Act offences, a recent Federal Court decision in the Maxzone case (see: here) indicating that the Federal Court will take a tougher stance on joint sentencing submissions in cartel cases, bid-rigging being an ongoing enforcement priority for the Competition Bureau and the continuing corruption/competition probe in the construction industry in Quebec. As such, the potential risk of engaging in bid-rigging or other criminal conduct under the Competition Act is now not only fines and/or imprisonment but also the possible loss of public sector clients.
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