Province won’t divulge ’transparent’ air ambulance selection details, contract value

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This article was published 21/07/2023 (779 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is refusing to reveal how many bids were considered before awarding a 10-year, multimillion-dollar air ambulance contract to a Tory-linked company after insisting the selection process was transparent.

The deal with Keewatin Air, a subsidiary of Exchange Income Corp., has ignited accusations of political favouritism from opposition critics.

EIC’s board of directors includes five Progressive Conservative party donors and was previously chaired by former Tory premier Gary Filmon.

Details surrounding the contract have been scant since the Winnipeg-based aviation firm announced Monday it was selected to fly critically ill Manitobans across the province following a year-long public tendering process.

The province has yet to issue a press release announcing it hired Keewatin Air to provide dedicated aircraft and flight crews 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to transport high-acuity patients in Manitoba. The contract’s value has not been disclosed.

Government Services Minister James Teitsma has rejected the favouritism claims, stating the competition was free and transparent and there were multiple bids.

However, the province is not required to state how many proposals it received or who else was in the running under various trade agreements or Manitoba’s procurement policies, a government spokesperson told the Free Press.

“Confidentiality on the number of bidders or bids received is intended to help protect and promote competition in the marketplace, and helps provide integrity in the procurement process for future opportunities,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said the public has questions about the contract and Manitobans deserve answers before heading to the polls on Oct. 3.

“There is more information the premier could be providing, and she’s refusing to, which casts further doubt on how this decision was made,” Asagwara said.

“It would be in the best interest of Manitobans — and I actually think it would be in the best interest of this premier — to provide more information and to be transparent.”

The Opposition has alleged Stefanson has a conflict of interest owing to her husband Jason Stefanson’s work with CIBC World Markets and EIC in 2017 and 2019.

Jason Stefanson was one of several underwriters for $100 million in bonds issued for EIC in 2017 and another $70 million in 2019, after the company was awarded a government contract for general aviation services, the NDP stated in the chamber last March.

The premier’s office has said the accusations are false.

Asagwara said the premier should recuse herself from decisions involving the company.

“Of course the premier doesn’t want to tell Manitobans the details of a contract she’s given to her friends,” the Union Station MLA said. “As much the premier wants to try and convince Manitobans that she’s not directly involved with this decision being made, that is untrue.”

On Friday, Stefanson said the NDP’s claims of conflict have no merit and she had no role in choosing Keewatin Air for the contract.

Asked if she recused herself from decisions regarding the contract at the cabinet level, the premier said she was not “involved in the selection process at all.”

“It went through a competitive process,” she said.

A spokesperson for her office later stated the contract was approved by Treasury Board but would not say if the premier signed off on the deal at executive council.

Proposals for the medevac contract were evaluated and negotiated by a multi-department, professional team of staff and results were verified by a third-party fairness monitor “so that all evaluation work can be carried out in an open, fair and transparent manner without any bias,” the spokesperson said.

According to the premier’s office, the fairness monitor concluded the competition was fair, open and transparent and in alignment with requirements.

A selection of the monitor’s report provided to the Free Press stated more than one company was recommended to receive the contract, following a rigorous and well-documented evaluation process, and the monitor had no reason to object to the results.

The province also backtracked its statement the value of the contract with Keewatin Air is confidential.

A spokesperson clarified late Thursday that the value of the contract will be released within 72 days of award, but not before a contract for rotary wing medical aviation services is awarded; the province issued a request for proposals in May 2022 for a new provider.

“Disclosure of the value of the contract will bias the marketplace and undermine Manitoba from negotiating the best value for Manitobans, should similar procurement be contemplated in the future,” a government spokesperson said.

Last spring, Shared Health signed a two-year extension of its contract with STARS for rotary and fixed wing air ambulance service. Manitoba’s previous NDP government first signed a 10-year, untendered contract with the not-for-profit in 2011.

Shared Health declined to state what it is paying STARS under the extended contract, arguing the disclosure could prejudice the procurement process. However, the province previously stated the 10-year contract was valued at $159 million.

On Friday, the premier could not commit to announcing the winning bidder for helicopter air ambulance services before the writ drop, saying she did not know the status of the tendering process.

EIC and its airlines have existing contracts with four provinces and territories, the federal government and international agreements. Last month, its subsidiary Carson Air was awarded a 10-year contract by the NDP government in British Columbia for fixed-wing medevac services spanning the entire province.

According to EIC, the investment in the Carson Air contract is about $200 million. That contract has been described as several times larger than the new deal between Keewatin Air and Manitoba.

— With files from Chris Kitching

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca