> Public Works Tightens Integrity Rules to Prohibit Convicted Firms from Contracting | COMPETITION LAW

Categories

Archives


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.

__________________

For more information about our regulatory services contact us: contact

For more about Canadian competition law compliance see: compliance

For more regulatory law updates follow us on Twitter: @CanadaAttorney

Comments are closed.

    buy-contest-form Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada

    buy-contest-form Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)

    WELCOME TO CANADIAN COMPETITION LAW! - OUR COMPETITION BLOG

    We are a Toronto based competition, advertising and regulatory law firm.

    We offer business, association, government and other clients in Toronto, Canada and internationally efficient and strategic advice in relation to Canadian competition, advertising, regulatory and new media laws. We also offer compliance, education and policy services.

    Our experience includes more than 20 years advising companies, trade and professional associations, governments and other clients in relation to competition, advertising and marketing, promotional contest, cartel, abuse of dominance, competition compliance, refusal to deal and pricing and distribution law matters.

    Our representative work includes filing and defending against Competition Bureau complaints, legal opinions and advice, competition, CASL and advertising compliance programs and strategy in competition and regulatory law matters.

    We have also written and helped develop many competition and advertising law related industry resources including compliance programs, acting as subject matter experts for online and in-person industry compliance courses and Steve Szentesi as Lawyer Editor for Practical Law Canada Competition.

    For more about us, visit our website: here.