APSA files complaint to Ombudsman’s office
Jennifer Brown
News Public SectorThe president of the Association of Professional Security Agencies (APSA) has asked the Ombudsman of Ontario to look into the licensing process and price tag of the G20 and G8 security guard and pedestrian screening contract awarded to Contemporary Security Canada.
Ross McLeod, who represents about 18 security companies and 30,000 people in the industry as head of APSA, says he submitted the request to the office of André Marin
on July 22. The complaint asks that the Ombudsman’s office look into the
licensing process of Contemporary Security Canada and any of the out-of-province security
guards that were employed by the company and licensed
by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services in time for the
Summits.
CSC is licensed in British Columbia, but at the time it was awarded the
contract for G8 and G20 by the RCMP it was not a licensed entity in
Ontario with the ability to provide security guard services. That angered many in the industry who were already licensed to provide security guard service in Ontario.
Contemporary provided security screening services for VANOC for the 2010
Vancouver Winter Olympics held in February. That contract was awarded
for the reported sum of $97 million, however the dollar value of the
pedestrian screening for the Summits has not been revealed. When asked
by Canadian Security what the screening contract for the Summits was
worth, Contemporary’s project director, Todd Severson said it was up to
the RCMP to reveal that number.
McLeod says his hope is the Ombudsman will be able to shed light on the expedited
licensing process that was performed by the Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Services in Ontario in the days leading up to the Summits and the dollar value of the contract.
“The process was outrageously flawed,” says McLeod. “This was the
largest security contract to be awarded in Canadian history. I believe
we as taxpayers and employers in this industry deserve to know how much
it was and why it was awarded the way it was.”
McLeod says he also plans to file a similar request to the federal Auditor General, Sheila Fraser.
“It may take both to get to the bottom of the amount,” he said. “We’ll
see what Marin can do but his office may only be able to determine
process, not dollar value.”
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