Smitherman linked to sole-source contracts

[PornAddict]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/10/07/smitherman-sole-source634.html#socialcomments


Documents obtained by Ontario's Progressive Conservatives show the health ministry granted millions in sole-source contracts while Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman was in charge of the file.

The documents, contained by the Tories under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the health ministry approved at least $9.5 million in untendered consulting contracts between 2004 and 2009. The contracts were for a variety of projects, including information technology services.

Smitherman was health minister from late 2003 to June 20, 2008, at which point he took over the energy and infrastructure portfolio. After leaving the health ministry, he also sat on the management board of cabinet, a committee of ministers that has authority to approve sole source contracts.

During Smitherman's tenure as health minister, over $3 million in untendered contracts were given to health-care consulting firm Courtyard Group, the documents show.

Another $122,200-contract to Courtyard was approved by one of Smitherman's political staff members, Philip Demont.

"The rot certainly ended up in Minister Smitherman's office, as he then was," Progressive Conservative health critic Christine Elliott told reporters.

No wrong done: Smitherman

Smitherman's mayoral campaign has been dogged by questions about the controversy surrounding the eHealth program — a failed bid to create electronic health records for the province. Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter criticized the program for handing out millions in untendered contracts.

But Smitherman has brushed off the criticism, saying eHealth Ontario wasn't created while he was minister.

Speaking Thursday at a campaign event in Toronto, Smitherman said he did nothing wrong, and that the Liberals have put an end to sole-source contracts.

"Sole-sourcing and untendered contracts are no longer possible," he told reporters at a campaign event in Toronto. "But all previous governments relied upon them and obviously that's not possible now. So the rules of the game have changed."

He said the release of the documents was politically motivated.

"Obviously, there are political opponents that want to make issue with something that happened on a previous watch."

A spokeswoman for Smitherman's rival in the mayoral race, Rob Ford, said the campaign was unaware the documents would be released Thursday.

"The voters and the taxpayers of Toronto are going to get a very clear message from this information today that George Smitherman has no fiscal credibility to be mayor of Toronto. He is incapable of handling a budget," said Adrienne Batra.

Ford, meanwhile, is set to release his full financial plan for Toronto on Friday morning.

Voters in Toronto go to the polls Oct. 25.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/st...e-source634.html#socialcomments#ixzz11w1kYNME

 

[PornAddict]

Lets not forget Smitherman took away
our vision care away (OHIP) ,
replaced it with Gays who wanted
sex change(OHIP) (men to woman)(Woman to Men).

Need i say more about Smitherman.

 

[PornAddict]

Smitherman "said he did nothing wrong"

That's politician speak for "I did nothing LEGALLY wrong". It still makes a point about ethics


What sort of human being could vote for this criminal?? I know probably Fuji because he is so anti-Ford.

Fords no beauty queen but damn Smitherman makes him look god like



The rot runs deep with Smitherman and the Liberal Party....

Consultant at eHealth was given more work
Universities ministry awarded untendered $435,000 contract to Courtyard

Courtyard is an international consultancy whose Toronto office has strong ties to the Liberal government. Documents obtained by the Star show Courtyard's John Ronson, a co-chair of the 1995 Liberal election campaign, billed eHealth on March 18 and 19 for consulting on "risk management" and "governance" issues at $393 an hour for a total of $1,572 for four hours' work.



Karli Farrow, a former policy adviser to Premier Dalton McGuinty and chief of staff to former Health Minister George Smitherman, was paid $10,646 for 32.5 hours of eHealth work as a Courtyard Group consultant in January. She left Smitherman's office in 2007.

http://www.thestar.com/article/650325

Stay Clear of Smitherman he can't be trusted with tax dollars. I see a Ford Victory for Mayor followed by a Conservitive Victory in Next years provincial election.

 

[moviefan]

Smitherman's responses to the e-health scandal have been a bit strange. Similar to his responses in this latest story, his replies whenever anyone raises the issue are usually:

-- E-health wasn't started by the Liberals, and he wasn't the only minister responsible for e-health.
-- The total amount squandered wasn't $1 billion, it was only $400 million.

As you might guess, saying he wasn't the only offender, and the amounts squandered on Liberal-friendly consultants weren't as much as critics suggest, are terrible responses. I have to assume Furious George has insisted on using these answers, as his advisors would know better.

Smitherman should either apologize for what took place, or defend it. His response -- saying bad things happened, but it's not as bad as some people make it sound -- accomplishes nothing. It's like saying Butch and Sundance didn't steal nearly as much money as people think. That may be true, but the dollar amounts in question aren't really the issue.

 

[landscaper]

I seem to remember the Courtyard group being involved in another consultant for hire controversy, although it may have been e-health, something about expensing gum and muffins?
I think this could use a closer look just ot clear the air if nothing else.

As far a Smitherman is concerned he has NEVER taken responsibility for his actions. His general responce has been instant anger and how dare anybody question me.

 

[PornAddict]

If he truly believed approving untendered, sole-source contracts was acceptable behaviour, he is far more unqualified than I suspected.
Absolutely no surprise that Smitherman would be engaged in this garbage.
Yet further proof that his word is worth nothing.
Also while over 500 Ontarians died of C difficile in Ontario"s hospitals because Smitherman didn't implement a reporting system he was shoveling the money to his friends. Smitherman is a scumbags!!!

 

[PornAddict]

SMITHERMAN'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS: eHealth scandal, OLG scandal, LHINs holding secret meetings, Ombudsman probing ER closings, broken promise with help for autistic children, de-listing eye exams/physiotherapy but making taxpayers pay for sex-changes, wearing diapers to show how seniors can stay in soiled diapers, awarding a non-tendered, single-source contract to Samsung, rising electricity and hydro costs, a disciple of the fake Green Energy Act, being demoted from Minister of Health after the death of over 260 due to C.difficile, prior years of addiction to party drugs & granting Miller the authority to raise auto registration & land transfer fees by 100%.


Smitherman should be in jail, not running for mayor. He should NEVER be elected into politics again.

Judgement on Smitherman I see it as:

Either.

Mr Smitherman is a criminal in cahoots with a bunch of scam artists.

Or

Mr Smitherman is very dimwitt and was scammed out of a billion dollars by shady so called consultants.

 

[james t kirk]

Sole Source Contracts are nothing new.

Sometimes, they are the right way to go. If you have a good consultant who is performing on a contract and you need to add to that contract - you give the consultant the additional work.

There are other instances - emergency work for one where the gov't can go sole source. Hell the Feds just went 16 billion sole source.

It does not mean that the government is in bed with the Contractor - despite what some individuals might think.

 

[shack]

Sole Source Contracts are nothing new.

Sometimes, they are the right way to go. If you have a good consultant who is performing on a contract and you need to add to that contract - you give the consultant the additional work.

There are other instances - emergency work for one where the gov't can go sole source. Hell the Feds just went 16 billion sole source.

It does not mean that the government is in bed with the Contractor - despite what some individuals might think.

However, with the demands for transparency with today's elected officials, just the "appearance" of impropriety or favouritism is considered a significant error.

 

[moviefan]

Sole Source Contracts are nothing new.

Sometimes, they are the right way to go. If you have a good consultant who is performing on a contract and you need to add to that contract - you give the consultant the additional work.

That's true. However, the government shouldn't be using sole-source contracts -- even when the consultant is performing well -- in cases where there may be a conflict of interest, as there was in the case of the Courtyard Group and John Ronson's involvement.

The McGuinty government has responded with new rules but what was really missing was common sense.

Smitherman should have known better. He fell into the trap of thinking his government's popularity would run forever and he didn't have to worry about getting caught. He was wrong.

 

[nottyboi]

Sole Source Contracts are nothing new.

Sometimes, they are the right way to go. If you have a good consultant who is performing on a contract and you need to add to that contract - you give the consultant the additional work.

There are other instances - emergency work for one where the gov't can go sole source. Hell the Feds just went 16 billion sole source.

It does not mean that the government is in bed with the Contractor - despite what some individuals might think.

Did not really work out well at eHealth though....

 

[moviefan]

Did not really work out well at eHealth though....

Unless you're with the Courtyard Group.

 

[landscaper]

sole source contract actually have their place, in areas where there is a limited talent pool is one place, and yes adding to a contract in SOME cases is also a not bad plan specially if time is a consideration. In general though most government contracts really need to be contracted , a) to ensure in theory the best price ( see Quebec construction), and B) to maintain transparancy in the bidding, the case of the CEO of the Durham hospitals hiring his own company to do the fundraising for the hospitals is the big point on this one

 

[zz000ter]

Please don't vote for Smitherman!

 

[fuji]

If he truly believed approving untendered, sole-source contracts was acceptable behaviour, he is far more unqualified than I suspected.

What do you think of the sole sourced contracts that Rob Ford voted for at city council?

 

[landscaper]

What do you think of the sole sourced contracts that Rob Ford voted for at city council?

could you name a couple of them?

 

[fuji]

could you name a couple of them?

Ford voted to extend Grenadier's sole sourced contract to run the concession stands in High Park and the Western beaches until 2031, over-riding a recommendation in a city staff prepared report that it be opened up to a tender and limited to 15 years.

 

[slowpoke]

According to the article, the Ministry of Health awarded $9.5M in sole sourced contracts from 2004 to 2009 which is less than $2M per year. Sole sourced contracts were not forbidded in those days and, considering the many $Billions the Ministry of Health spends each year, this sole sourced portion is vanishingly small.

 

[landscaper]

According to the article, the Ministry of Health awarded $9.5M in sole sourced contracts from 2004 to 2009 which is less than $2M per year. Sole sourced contracts were not forbidded in those days and, considering the many $Billions the Ministry of Health spends each year, this sole sourced portion is vanishingly small.

so sole sourceing a contract is ok by you? the amount was actually much higher when you include the amounts that the hospitals and lhin's did as well, again sole sourced and in teh hospitals case money that should have go straight to patient care.

 

[landscaper]

Ford voted to extend Grenadier's sole sourced contract to run the concession stands in High Park and the Western beaches until 2031, over-riding a recommendation in a city staff prepared report that it be opened up to a tender and limited to 15 years.

During an August meeting, council voted 20-18 to start negotiations with Grenadier, with Ford supporting the motion. Technically, the deal still must be approved by the next council.

But the negotiations are also much more than the “report” Ford suggests (in fact, by his vote he rejected the existing report’s recommendation to seek alternatives). Instead, the decision sets the groundwork for an untendered extension being signed in the new year


Toronto Star article as of yet there is no contract , negotiations that must be approved by council so no sole sourced contract.