Five Manitoba contractors have been fined after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges involving government social housing contracts.
They were charged in December 2022 after a Competition Bureau investigation. The Bureau says the men manipulated 54 contracts between 2011 and 2016.
The contractors were initially charged with conspiracy to commit fraud over $5,000 under the criminal code. They were also charged with conspiracy to allocate contracts under the Competition Act.
They pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy under the Competition Act in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.
The contracts were awarded by the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation, worth a total value of $3.5 million, for social housing refurbishment, according to the Competition Bureau.
As part of the scheme, the men were able to decide in advance which would get the public contract, and to determine the price of the project.
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The contractors were ordered to pay a total of $196,000 in fines.
Geoff Gregoire was ordered to pay $61,000; James Kauk was fined $53,000, Guy Pringle was ordered to pay $33,000, Doug Gunnarson was fined $25,000, and Ryan Lamont ordered to pay $24,000.
“Collusion in public contracts allows a handful of unscrupulous businesses and individuals to profit at the expense of taxpayers,” Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell said. “It also reduces the public funds available to respond to sometimes urgent and basic needs, such as affordable housing.”
Those found guilty of price-fixing, allocating markets, or restricting supply (conspiracy) could receive fines up to $25 million, and jail time up to 14 years, according to the Competition Bureau.
In another recent case involving the Competition Bureau and government contracts, a former executive of Pavages Maska Inc., a paving company in Quebec, pleaded guilty to bid-rigging for contracts from the province’s transport ministry. Serge Daunais was fined $20,000.
Pavages Maska was ordered to pay $100,000 for its role in bid rigging between 2008 and 2009.
Marcel Roireau, who was involved in the same scheme, was given 12 months house arrest in September 2024.
Road construction company DJL Inc. was also ordered to pay $1.5 million for its role in the bid-rigging scheme with competitors for Quebec paving contracts in the Granby region.
In 2023, two Quebec men were charged in connection with an alleged conspiracy to rig bids for Quebec City infrastructure contracts, following a Competition Bureau investigation.
Patrice Mathieu and André Côté were each charged with conspiracy to rig bids and commit fraud, and fraud over $5,000.
The incidents were alleged to have happened between 2006 and 2010.
