March 15, 2010
SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Profac under scrutiny over federal contract billing
OTTAWA
How many federal contract workers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Not clear, but they charged the government $5,266 to install six potlights and $1,000 to replace a light switch.
Details of costly charges racked up by a government contractor were splashed across two pages in Montreal’s La Presse on March 10.
Profac, a subsidiary of corporate giant SNC-Lavalin, has had a $550 million annual maintenance and management contract with Ottawa since 2004 that was recently extended to 2013.
Among the bills that the newspaper uncovered through Access to Information was one for $18,650 to provide extra cleaning of former minister Christian Paradis’ offices in Gatineau, Que.
Current Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose says the expenses were over the top, and she wants the contracts reviewed.
Canadian Press
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