$11M wheelchair contract awarded without cabinet approval

In a rare unanimous vote, an all-party committee of the New Brunswick Legislature is asking Service New Brunswick to explain an $11-million contract awarded in October, 2014, during the transition between Progressive Conservative and Liberal governments.

PC MLA Dorothy Shephard says she was surprised to learn during a hearing of the public accounts committee last week that the contract was awarded without getting approval of the provincial cabinet.

It's not clear exactly when it was awarded, but Shephard says it appears to have happened before Oct. 7, the day the PC government left office and the Liberals were sworn in.

The Canadian Red Cross won the bid to provide wheelchairs, canes, grab bars and other equipment for disabled New Brunswickers who can't afford them themselves. The province funds the program.

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"I wanted to understand the process by which what turned out to be an $11-million contract was awarded during a time of transition between two governments,"Shephardsaid. "Neither cabinet gave approval for the awarding of the contract."

The process was handled by the Department of Government Services, which was merged into the new Service New Brunswick by the Liberals.

Shephard raised the issue during a meeting of the public accounts committee last week.

This seems to be a little out of sorts. I don't understand why it's out of sorts, and I'm trying to follow the path from beginning to end.- Dorothy Shephard, PC MLA

The committee passed a motion unanimously to ask another legislative committee, on Crown corporations, to ask Service New Brunswick to appear on the issue.

"This seems to be a little out of sorts," Shephard said. "I don't understand why it's out of sorts, and I'm trying to follow the path from beginning to end."

No date is scheduled yet for the appearance.

Legislative committees usually split along partisan lines. But Shephard said she approached one of the Liberal MLAs on the public accounts committee about the issue to assure him she wasn't attacking the Gallant government.

The Liberals decided to support her motion. She said Green Party Leader David Coon also voted in favour.

Shephard raised the subject when the Department of Social Development was appearing at the public accounts committeelast Thursday. The department funds the program being run by the Red Cross.

Shephard said she has heard complaints from constituents about how the Canadian Red Cross has been administering the contract.

"This is a group of very vulnerable individuals," she said. "Their lives are completely dependent on the medical devices that are supplied to them."

Awarded in 'fair and consistent manner'

Before the contract, a range of private companies supplied the items, but the province wanted to centralize it with one supplier to save money.

The New Brunswick Association of Occupational Therapists warned in December 2014 that the Red Cross wasn't prepared to handle the program.

The government promised at the time that the Red Cross would "meet or exceed current levels of service with no risk to clients and no impact on wait times."

But earlier this year, several disabled New Brunswickers said they were turning to charities and private companies to supply their equipment because the Red Cross was taking too long to provide it.

The contract expires at the end of January, 2017, but can be extended.

Service New Brunswick said an emailed statement Friday afternoon that the contract was awarded "in a fair and consistent manner, not only based on pricing, but on all technical and service related requirements."

The statement pointed out that Service New Brunswick appeared before the Crown corporations committee in October. It didn't say whether it would return to the committee if invited.