City towing contracts show breakdown in transparency: deputy mayor Lukes, tow director call for probe into police, parking authority deals By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:49 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024

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This article was published 05/11/2024 (645 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s deputy mayor is calling for an external review of city towing contracts, citing “serious” concerns about transparency in awarding millions of dollars worth of work.

“I do want a deeper investigation. I will be speaking to the RCMP to see if they are the ones that would do it,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West.)

Lukes said she started reviewing recent city towing contracts for the Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg Parking Authority after hearing concerns from people bidding on the work.

She believes the WPS contracts have become less transparent over time. She noted a 2013 request for proposal required the winning bidder to report the time and date each vehicle was retrieved after being towed to a compound and the total charges paid by the owner/driver to the contractor on a “regular monthly basis.”

The record-keeping requirements section in a 2019 contract did not list those details, nor did the same section of a 2024 contract.

“I think this is very serious because it appears the contracts are being written in a very untransparent manner … (They are worth) millions of dollars,” said Lukes.

She said the estimated number of WPS tows a contractor could expect also declined over the years, just as Winnipeg’s population grew, sparking questions over the numbers.

The WPS contract includes tows for damaged police vehicles and those seized by police due to suspected impaired, unlicensed or suspended driving, as well as other charges, Lukes said.

However, estimates in the contract documents appear to only include police vehicle tows, she said.

After asking city officials for the number of vehicles towed in 2022 and 2023, Lukes said she received a number that fell well below the number of Winnipeg impaired driving incidents for those years.

“It was approximately half of the numbers of DUIs but that number was supposed to be all the broken police cars, (plus those seized due to) DUIs, suspended (driving), prostitution, drugs,” said Lukes.

The councillor said she’s concerned the city doesn’t have an accurate assessment of what the towing contract is worth, nor do bidders.

“I think this is very serious because it appears the contracts are being written in a very untransparent manner … (They are worth) millions of dollars.”–Janice Lukes

Due to a lack of information, she doesn’t believe the city can ensure it receives its flat fee of $25 per WPS-related tow.

“What really concerns me is the processes that are put in place to make sure that the towing company is submitting the accurate number of tows. And I say that because we’re in litigation with a towing firm that wasn’t submitting the accurate number of tows,” Lukes alleged.

In 2023, the city sued Tartan Towing, alleging it had paid the company $1,115,626 between 2016 and 2022 for “invalid” tows Tartan either did not perform or recorded improperly. Tartan has denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim against the city. The allegations have not been proven in court.

On Aug. 2, 2024, the city awarded Tartan a contract to tow and store vehicles for WPS until at least June 30, 2025, with up to four optional one-year extensions.

Lukes said that award sparked many questions.

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In an email, city spokesman David Driedger said the contract “was awarded to the lowest compliant bidder.”

The city has since decided to re-tender that contract after its first year, instead of awarding any optional extensions, due to “inconsistencies between our various tow contracts,” wrote Driedger.

He said the city has measures in place to ensure transparency, fairness and equity when it seeks contractors, which has not changed in recent years.

“As it relates to the Winnipeg Police Service towing bid opportunity, additional legal language was added consistent with improvements to our processes; however, there haven’t been significant changes to the key areas of the bid instructions and qualifications in 2024,” he wrote.

Lukes fears the city also lacks oversight of lucrative towing deals, noting the winning bidder can charge nearly $500 every time they store a vehicle for 30 days. And she’s concerned vague contracts could prevent companies who haven’t worked for the city before from submitting bids.

City documents note Bison Towing bid $14.70 for the most recent WPS contract, while Dr. Hook Towing bid $113,600.50 and Tartan bid $18,480, a wide price discrepancy Lukes also deemed a “red flag.”

Zakria Shoaib, Bison’s director, said he’d also like an extensive, external review of city towing contracts, such as by the RCMP.

“All the transparency is out of the door (with the latest contracts) … In 2024, it’s a guessing game. Deciphering the contract gets more difficult,” said Shoaib.

He said the 2013 WPS contract appeared much more transparent to him than the one issued this year.

“It (includes)… what you are expected to do, how many tows there would be per year, how much storage, everything is clearer,” said Shoaib.

He said he was told his company was not awarded the contract because it didn’t have enough storage space, though he said it actually exceeds the amount required.

“All the transparency is out of the door (with the latest contracts) … In 2024, it’s a guessing game. Deciphering the contract gets more difficult.”–Zakria Shoaib

The businessman said he’s sharing his concerns for the sake of his industry.

“Obviously, by speaking out, clearly, I am putting a lot of my chances in danger of getting any of the contracts … My whole concern is to make the market clean,” he said.

Lukes also raised concerns over Winnipeg Parking Authority towing contracts.

While the councillor said these more clearly noted the number of vehicles towed over the previous 12 months in 2020 and 2024 requests for proposal, she’s skeptical the number of expected tows appeared to decline despite population growth.

Shoaib said he bid on the 2024 parking authority contract before the city cancelled its request for proposal late last month.

“The request for (proposal) … is cancelled due to issues with the document preventing fair and equal evaluation of bids,” an Oct. 28 city letter notes.

Lukes said the letter was sent to all bidders on the work, while a new request for proposal will be issued.

Driedger said the parking authority contract was not awarded because new information on bid sheets “was not clear, making it difficult for bidders to submit compliant bids.”

Jeff Browaty, chair of city council’s finance committee, couldn’t comment Tuesday, saying he didn’t have enough information about the issue. Mayor Scott Gillingham could not be reached for comment before deadline.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.