Canadian veterans lose federal security contract to U.S. company’s subsidiary

OTTAWA — A Conservative motion asking the federal government to cancel a security contract awarded to a Canadian subsidiary of U.S.-based Allied Universal was defeated this week. Commissionaires says the decision raises concerns about future work for the veterans it employs.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) awarded a $12-million contract in June to Universal Protection Service of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Allied Universal. Commissionaires is a not-for-profit security company with a mandate to hire veterans.

Geoff Hamilton, chair of Commissionaires’ national business management committee, said the two bids differed by about $80,000. “The CRA contract is just a sad reality of how the public sector procures security services,” he said. Hamilton also said the government told the organization it would no longer have the right of first refusal for most federal contracts.

Hamilton said 8,000 Commissionaires are currently serving the federal government, including 2,000 veterans. He said the organization is concerned that what happened with the CRA contract — veteran employment being deprioritized over a 0.8 per cent price difference — could happen with the other contracts as well.

Michael Barrett, the Conservative shadow minister for veterans affairs, called on the government Tuesday to support an Opposition day motion asking the Liberals to reverse the decision. He said it was disappointing that, amid the trade war with the United States and U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments denigrating the service of Canadian Armed Forces members, the government would take a direction his party did not expect it to take or maintain. Barrett said the situation was an opportunity for Prime Minister Mark Carney to show that his words and actions match, adding that Canadians were not seeing that now.

Wayne Long, the secretary of state responsible for the CRA, defended the move in the House of Commons last month. “The CRA process is independent, it does not involve politicians,” Long said. He added that the government would do what was right and that the company was Canadian. Asked about the selection criteria and why Commissionaires lost the contract, the CRA said in a statement that Long had already responded on the agency’s behalf and it had nothing further to add at this time.

The government procurement website’s award notice says the selection was based on the “highest combined rating of technical merit and price.” In a statement, Long’s spokesperson Katelyn Adey said the CRA had implemented a new policy to prioritize Canadian suppliers in procurement. She said independent CRA officials use comprehensive criteria when assessing potential contractors, considering more than overall cost. Criteria can include past performance on similar contracts, business continuity planning, and the ability to recruit and consistently deploy personnel. Adey said the decisions are made independently, without political interference.

Allied Universal said it has more than 10,100 employees and 19 offices across Canada. In a statement, the company said its team looks forward to providing professional, reliable security services for CRA employees and visitors. It also said it has hired several employees from the previous security provider, bringing their knowledge and experience to its team.