Stimulus dollars could be lining Mob pockets

Posted By GREG WESTON

Posted 3 months ago

The Conservative government's economic stimulus spending spree that is pouring billions of tax dollars into road construction projects may turn out to be an offer the Mafia couldn't refuse.

Even as Stephen Harper and his ministers are racing around the country showering public funds on just about every project with a cement mixer, Quebec is engulfed in a growing scandal over Mafia control of infrastructure projects.

In some excellent investigative reporting by the CBC, a credible government insider-turned-whistleblower claims Montreal's Italian Mafia controls 80% of the contracts for road construction in the city, much of which is certain to involve federal stimulus money.

The CBC report included detailed descriptions of bid-rigging of contracts, a practice that dramatically inflates overall project costs borne by taxpayers.

A Transport Canada study last year found that building a kilometre of road in Quebec inexplicably cost an average 38% more than anywhere else in the country.

One published expert on the Italian Mafia cautions that the phenomenon is not limited to Quebec, that the tentacles of organized crime are into major construction projects in other provinces across the country.

The fact that organized crime in Quebec is nothing new will likely be cold comfort to the taxpayers from Victoria to Gander who are now at risk of being fleeced by Luigi the Enforcer.

Exactly how much public cash may be involved in the great Canadian shakedown is difficult to tell.

Even the parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, complains that the Harper government is fogging its spending on infrastructure and other economic stimulus programs beyond the point of accounting recognition.

Whatever the figure, it is a huge amount of loot that is being poured into roads, bridges and other government construction mega-projects.

The Conservative government's latest economic update report, for instance, boasts that since the beginning of this year, more than $7.6 billion in funding has been committed as the federal share of provincial and municipal infrastructure projects worth over $21 billion.

Forget the 38% more that it mysteriously costs to build a road in Quebec -- if even 10% is being raked off the top through price-fixing and kickbacks, that means over $2 billion of taxpayers' money going to crime syndicates.

Federal taxpayers are also contributing mightily to Quebec's largest-ever provincial infrastructure program, a staggering $42 billion to be spent over the next five years on roads, bridges and other major construction.

If that weren't enough to rile the ratepayers of Red Deer, the Conservative cheque brigade never seems to miss an opportunity to spend more wooing votes in la belle province.

A few months ago, for instance, a long chill between the prime minister and Quebec Premier Jean Charest ended in a splendid photo op in the city of Levis where the two announced even more cash for roads and sewers -- a whopping $2.3 billion of it.

So far, the Harper government is refusing to get involved in the growing Quebec construction fiasco, claiming it is a provincial issue.

But those whose money is at risk may beg to differ.

The next time some shameless Conservative cabinet minister shows up at an infrastructure announcement with one of those giant novelty cheques signed by the prime minister, taxpayers might be excused for asking how much of the real cash might be going to the Mob.

Only in Canada. Mamma mia.