OTTAWA - A Conservative motion asking the federal government to cancel a security contract awarded to a Canadian subsidiary of an American company was defeated this week, as the Commissionaires express concern about future work for the veterans it employs. In June, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) awarded a $12-million contract to Universal Protection Service of Canada Corp., which is a subsidiary of Allied Universal. Commissionaires is a not-for-profit security company with a mandate to hire veterans. “The CRA contract is just a sad reality of how the public sector procures security services,” said Geoff Hamilton, the national business management committee chair with the Commissionaires, adding there was about an $80,000 difference in cost between the two bids. Hamilton said the government also informed the organization it would no longer have the right of first refusal for most federal contracts. “Our concern is that what’s happened here with the CRA, where veteran employment was deprioritized on the basis of a tiny, 0.8 per cent difference in price, that’s what’s going to happen to the other 8,000 Commissionaires currently serving the federal government of which 2,000 are veterans,” Hamilton said. Michael Barrett, the Conservative shadow minister for veterans affairs, called on the government to support an Opposition day motion Tuesday asking the Liberals to reverse the decision. “It’s very disappointing because we see in the context of this trade war we’re in with the United States, where (U.S. President Donald Trump) has made comments that have denigrated the service of the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces, that this would of course not be a direction that we would expect the government to take, and not one that we’d expect them to keep,” Barrett said. “This is a great opportunity for Prime Minister (Mark) Carney to show us that his words and actions match, because currently that’s not what Canadians are seeing.” Wayne Long, the secretary of state responsible for the CRA, defended the move in the House of Commons last month. “The CRA process is independent, it does not involve politicians,” Long said. “We’re always going to do what’s right, this company is Canadian.” When asked about the selection criteria and why Commissionaires lost the contract, the CRA said in a statement that “the secretary of state has already provided a response on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency. As such, we do not have any additional information to add at this time.” A government procurement website states the selection criteria were based on the “highest combined rating of technical merit and price.” In a statement, Long’s spokesperson, Katelyn Adey, said the CRA has implemented a new policy to ensure Canadian suppliers are prioritized in procurement processes. “When considering potential contractors, independent officials at the Canada Revenue Agency employ comprehensive evaluation criteria that do not only consider overall cost,” Adey said. “These criteria can include, among other things, past performance on similar contracts, business continuity planning, and ability to recruit and consistently deploy personnel. These decisions are made independently, without political interference.” Allied Universal said it has more than 10,100 employees and 19 offices across Canada. “Our team looks forward to providing professional, reliable security services for the agency’s employees and visitors,” the company said in a statement. “We’ve also hired several employees from the previous security provider, bringing their knowledge and experience to our team.”
