Every year, Quebec companies secretly and illegally divvy up construction contracts worth millions of dollars, according to a number of whistleblowers, government probes and recent press investigations. Instead of submitting their bids independently, the biggest firms allegedly conspire to determine who will win which government contract and how much they’ll charge. As a result, the province pays about a third more for construction projects than it would otherwise. Politicians are bribed in exchange for doling out the most lucrative jobs, and organized crime is frequently involved, as media outlets such as Radio-Canada and the book Mafia Inc. have reported. This fall, a scathing report by Jacques Duchesneau, the province’s independent anti-collusion investigator, was leaked to the press; it depicts a broken, deeply corrupt contracting system. On October 19, facing mounting pressure, Premier Jean Charest finally called a public inquiry into the construction industry. (A few days later, Duchesneau was fired after publicly criticizing his boss, the head of Quebec’s anti-corruption unit.)

elizabeth