Videotron appeals trade tribunal ruling on Bell G7 Summit contracts

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is appealing a ruling by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal over a procurement complaint the company lodged against the federal government, alleging it sole-sourced G7 Summit-related contract work worth more than $24 million to its main competitor BCE Inc. The tribunal ruled in favour of the government and Bell in an October decision that said the matter doesn’t fall within its jurisdiction, and that the work stemmed from reasonable additions to two older government contracts that didn’t require a new procurement process. “In both cases, no new government procurement was awarded with requirements different from those of the original procurement,” its decision said. Videotron contested the ruling in in the Federal Court of Appeal last week. It’s asking the court to refer the matter back to the tribunal. Its appeal request claims the tribunal is endorsing an “absurd” practice and “dangerous” precedent for market competition by granting Canada’s largest telecommunications company some $24 million in “new” contracts to build infrastructure for a two-day-long government summit, which would eventually become Bell’s property and used to compete in the market. Those claims have yet to be tested in court. Bell, which opposed Videotron’s tribunal complaint, filed a notice of appearance at the Federal Court of Appeal late last week to make arguments during the case. Videotron had originally filed a complaint to the trade tribunal in May alleging Shared Services Canada awarded contracts to Bell to improve local telecommunication infrastructure ahead of the June G7 Summit held in La Malbaie, Quebec without first holding a tendering process – which would have breached Canada’s international free trade agreements. The federal department and Bell both disputed Videotron’s arguments in the proceeding, arguing the work stemmed from past contracts and didn’t require new tenders. The contract work at issue was for “upgrading telephone switching stations and broadband communications networks, including the installation of fiber optic” and building “at least thirteen cellular telephone towers along highways 138, 170 and 362, connecting the cities of Québec, La Malbaie and Bagotville,” according to the tribunal ruling. Videotron argued that work was not covered under Bell’s initial government contracts and should have triggered a new tendering process it could have participated in. Shared Services filed a motion in June arguing Videotron’s complaint was outside the scope of the tribunal’s jurisdiction because the issue is related to contract administration, not the procurement process. It also said Videotron was not a potential supplier and added that one of the contracts was subject to a national security exemption, excluding it from the trade deals. Bell supported the department’s arguments, but Videotron asked the tribunal to dismiss Shared Service’s motion, arguing the government effectively awarded two new contracts to Bell, that Videotron was a potential supplier and that the government should have launched a new tendering process, the tribunal ruling outlined. The tribunal ultimately sided with Shared Services, deciding the G7 work was carried out under two previous government contracts -- one from 2010, for supplying local access telephone services, and another from 2017, for government cellular services -- through ad hoc contract additions. The telephone-line contract was amended at one point to include 2,000 new telephone lines in La Malbaie, Bagotville and Québec for the G7 Summit, which cost $9.5 million, according to the ruling. Under the other contract, Shared Services issued “13 task authorizations” for Bell to build or improve cell towers to “increase the capacity of the existing cellular network and offer greater coverage in the Charlevoix and Saguenay regions,” which totalled close to $15 million plus taxes. “The possibility for to require additional services to ensure the sustainability of services during the G7 Summit, and the fact that those ad hoc needs would lead to additional compensation, were already provided for as part of the initial tendering processes,” the ruling said. It also said Videotron was not even a “potential supplier,” stating it had “not tried to participate in the two calls for tenders” originally. Because it found the initial contract terms weren’t substantially modified – making it an issue of contract administration, not procurement – the tribunal ruled it has no jurisdiction over the matter. — With reporting by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Videotron appeals trade tribunal ruling on Bell G7 Summit contracts

News | November 12, 2018

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Videotron appeals trade tribunal ruling on Bell G7 Summit contracts

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