The company awarded a federal government contract to provide private security for the G8 and G20 summits is not licensed in Ontario.
Contemporary Security Canada, a subsidiary of a U.S.-based company that did private security for the Vancouver Olympic Games, was selected by the RCMP to provide about 1,100 workers to screen pedestrians throughout the summits in Huntsville and Toronto.
But security guards and their companies are required by provincial law to be licensed, and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said Contemporary Security Canada is not approved.
“No, they’re not,” said Laura Blondeau, spokeswoman for Minister Rick Bartolucci. “We are scrambling to do that due diligence with the aim of getting them licensed so they can proceed. So we’re kind of behind the eight ball on this.”
Ms. Blondeau said the ministry was informed of the issue “within the last two weeks” and said awarding a licence typically takes four to six months. Ministry staff are doing background checks on the company and the security guards it has hired for the high-profile international event.
“My understanding is that the RCMP has a long-standing relationship with this company,” she said. “So they secured them and we found out about it after the fact. It’s an inconvenience.”
The company must pay a fee and go through a rigorous process to become licensed, and Ms. Blondeau said it will be able to work at the summits only if approved.
“If they are an agency that is approved to do business in Ontario, then they can proceed,” she said.
Todd Severson, project director of CSC, said the company is working with the ministry to complete the requirements.
“CSC is not currently performing any security services in Ontario, but will ensure all regulatory requirements are met before security screening begins. We are confident that we will be fully compliant and meet all prerequisites in the timeframe required,” he wrote in an e-mail.
The company is based in Salt Lake City, with an office in Vancouver, and won the contract after a federal “letter of interest” was posted in March announcing the government’s intention to secure a contractor to provide airport-style security at checkpoints.
The letter stipulated that bidders must “submit proof that they can provide the security equipment and minimum required number of security screening personnel that are licensed (Ontario Security Guard Licence).”
The fact that the tender was awarded to an unlicensed company has raised the hackles of Canadian-based security companies.
“We think it’s outrageous. It’s completely unnecessary,” said Ross McLeod, president of the Association of Professional Security.
According to CSC advertisements in Toronto newspapers, private security guards at the G8 and G20 summits will be paid $20-$24 an hour.
This is double the average wage for security guards in Ontario, according to Mr. McLeod.
“You could secure all the labour you need for much, much less,” he said. “ If they’re throwing that money around like a drunken sailor, they’re obviously being paid way, way too much.”
His company, Intelligarde, has been hired to provide private security at a Bay Street office towers. But he now worries the wages offered by CSC will lure away his employees.
“Now, all of us who have planned this responsibly for six months, we don’t know if our labour’s going to show up,” he said. “If you’re getting paid $16 to work for me at the TD Centre and somebody says I’ll give you $24 over here, I’m not going to blame you for going there.”
Paul Carson, president of the ASG Security Group, said the circumstances of the public tendering of the security contract raise serious questions.
The letter of interest was posted on March 31 and taken down on April 6. Mr. Carson said it usually takes weeks to answer the questions raised in such requests for proposal.
“The timeline is laughable,” he said. “It just doesn’t pass the sniff test.”
Sergeant Leo Monbourquette of the G8-G20 Integrated Security Unit said the tender was awarded under the national security exemption process and required bidders to hold valid NATO secret security clearance.
“It wasn’t just anybody who could bid on this contract,” he said.
Because of the national security exemption, Sgt. Monbourquette said, he could not comment on details of the contract, including how many companies bid on it, or how much the job is worth.
The cost of the summit has been estimated at nearly $1-billion. The RCMP has said that about $321-million is being spent on venue security, intelligence gathering and the expenses associated with bringing in police officers and private security guards.
The RCMP hired an independent third party to monitor the tender process to ensure it was fair, Sgt. Monbourquette added.
The RCMP is confident the company will be “fully compliant” with provincial licensing requirements before the summits begin, he said.
And if it is not?
“I don’t know if there’s a plan B,” he said. “All the information I have is that they will be.”
