Construction boss contradicts competitor at corruption inquiry, denies collusion

MONTREAL – The head of a firm that received the second highest number of roadwork contracts from the Quebec government is denying it colluded with its primary competitor.

Today’s comment by Construction DJL president Marcel Roireau contradicts the testimony of a former construction boss who painted a picture on Wednesday of systemic collusion.

Roireau didn’t admit to any wrongdoing as he addressed the Charbonneau Commission but said companies respected certain territorial boundaries and had pacts of non-aggression.

His testimony clashes with that of Normand Bedard, the former head of DJL’s primary competitor, who told the corruption inquiry there was widespread collusion on municipal and provincial government contracts.

Bedard testified he was aware of such practices spanning at least a few decades and said there was an agreement between DJL and his own company, Sintra.

Roireau says it’s possible that others at DJL were involved in collusion but that he wasn’t personally aware.

In terms of dollars, Sintra and DJL ranked one and two in terms of contracts awarded by the province between 1997 and 2012.

The inquiry has heard that Sintra received $1.645 billion in government contracts over the 15 years, while Construction DJL received $884 million.

The corruption inquiry turned its attention this week to contracts involving the provincial Transport Department and political party financing.