Cégep de Jonquière has awarded contracts totaling tens of thousands of dollars to companies linked to establishment personnel over the past five years, our investigative agency has learned.
Documents obtained following a request for information have revealed that around twenty contracts have been awarded to three companies since 2017, involving an administrator, a coordinator and an employee of Cégep de Jonquière in Saguenay (see below).
Most of the cake goes to Trigone, a company specializing in human resources where Martin Jean is a director. The latter has also been Vice President of the Board of Directors of cégep since 2016.
From 2017 to date, Trigone has won about ten contracts totaling nearly $40,000. Note that Trigone had only been awarded one contract with the Cégep de Jonquière in the last 17 years.
managers and lecturers
Two branches of the Charlevoix-based college have also awarded nearly a dozen contracts to Katabik in 2020 and 2021, totaling more than $11,000. The outdoor company is owned by Sébastien Savard, who until recently was the coordinator and head of the higher education institution.
The company, which specializes in Desire to Discover expeditions, won two contracts totaling almost $5,000 in less than six months. The company is owned by Jessica Zajko, who worked as a university lecturer. A passion for discovery also occupies another CEGEP lecturer.
The institution defends itself
All but one of the contracts were awarded amicably as their value was under the $5,000 mark.
The Cégep de Jonquière denies having given preferential treatment to employees when awarding these contracts and claims to have followed the existing mechanisms to avoid conflicts of interest.
In the case of Katabik, Sébastien Savard was met by management and excluded from the acquisition process. Steps have also been taken to obtain a second estimate before engaging Katabik’s services, assures cégep.
However, the institution could not prove that this exercise had been carried out for the companies Désir de Découverte and Trigone. In the case of Trigone, the cégep is justified by the fact that other companies offering similar services also received contracts between 2017 and 2022.
strengthen politics
This last argument, according to Patric Besner, vice-president of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP), “has no relevance to the treatment of conflicts of interest”.
He believes that Cégep would do well to strengthen its acquisition policy in order to better document the placement of employees. These contracts should also be checked by management or the board of directors before they are awarded.
“It is important to have a second layer of security or surveillance to ensure that contracts are awarded in the best interests of Cégep,” said IGOPP adviser Luc Martinet.
What Cégep de Jonquière’s policy says:
Section 4.08:
An employee may not have a direct or indirect interest in a contract covered by this policy if this person is directly or indirectly involved in the acquisition process, the preparation of tender documents, the evaluation of the tenders, the decision on the award of the contract or when this person this Good or likely to use this service.
Section 5.02:
For supply contracts valued less than $5,000, the college will use over-the-counter negotiations or bidding with at least two suppliers when the market exists and it is a college advantage.
$54,802 awarded to…
JOHN MARTIN
– Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cégep de Jonquière since 2016
– Director of Operations at Trigone from 2010 to 2022
- Trigone received 9 contracts from Cégep de Jonquière between 2017 and 2022 for a total of $38,904.39.
- Trigone had only been given one contract between 2005 and 2017.
- Martin Jean, along with our investigative office, denied taking any advantage of these contracts, which he was unaware of most of the time. He emphasizes that the board does not interfere in the day-to-day running of the university.
“I am a volunteer who gives time who goes there because my daughter goes to Cégep de Jonquière. Do you think I was there to do business? I don’t need this to live”said Martin Jean.
SEBASTIEN SAVARD
– Coordinator from 2010 to spring 2022 at the Center d’études collégiales en Charlevoix, reporting to the Cégep de Jonquière. Today he is a pedagogical consultant for further education.
– President of Katabik – Adventure in Charlevoix since 2001
- Katabatik received 7 contracts with the Cégep de Jonquière totaling $11,568.79 in 2020 and 2021.
- The manager of Katabik assured that all the contracts with the Cégep de Jonquière had been concluded according to the rules of the art, Sébastien Savard had completely withdrawn from the procedure.
“It’s nothing strange, everything was done and done well and checked and double checked”pleaded Caroline Sylvie Desrochers.
JESSICA ZAJKO
– Contracted Spring 2021 and lecturer Winter 2022 at Formation Continue Charlevoix
– Owner of Desire to Discover
- Desire to Discover received two orders in October 2021 and March 2022 for a total of $4329.39.
Jessica Zajko claims via email that she feels like exploring “Compliance with the administrative requirements of the Cégep de Jonquière throughout the process”. But she didn’t want to say more.
“We worked together [sic] with you. We said everything we had to say about it.”She is ready.
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