SNC-Lavalin allowed through LRT Phase 2 process after lawsuit fears

An external legal firm hired by the city warned against disqualifying SNC-Lavalin from the LRT Phase 2 bidding process for fear the company would successfully sue the city, if its bid were disqualified because it initially failed to meet the city's minimum technical score.

A memo, from law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, is part of the city's massive dump of documents pertaining to LRT, late Monday.

The city's external lawyers raised concerns about a lack of clarity in the city's technical scoring, and the potential vulnerability to litigation that could cause.

“Assuming that a proponent proved that the scoring methodology was flawed, and that they would have been the highest ranked proponent, there is a strong likelihood a court would award significant damages,” a memo from Norton Rose Fulbright, to the city's bid evaluation steering committee, reads in part.

SNC-Lavalin's bid was initially scored below the city's minimum technical threshold of 70 per cent. The company eventually won the $1.6 billion contract to extend the Trillium Line south to the airport and Riverside South.

The lawyers' memo was part of a release of hundreds of pages of documents relating to the light rail procurement process and the controversial SNC-Lavalin contract, late Monday.

The mayor says while the city and its residents are not happy with the current state of light rail, he feels the documents show that a good procurement process was followed by the city.

“I felt very good reading those documents because I thought they were very, very precise in terms of the issues raised — by not just members of council but by members of the public,” said Mayor Jim Watson, adding that he thinks residents who read the documents will be reassured.

“They'll have a greater level of comfort and understanding that the process we followed was a good process; we're just not happy with the service of RTG at this point,” said Watson.