December 6, 2018
Practical Law Canada Competition has published a new Legal Update, which discusses a recent important Quebec Court of Appeal decision, in which the court increased the penalties in a municipal works bid-rigging case in Quebec. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Update.
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A recent decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal in R c. Fedele, 2018 CarswellQue 10342 (English language summary) sends a strong signal that bid-rigging offences, particularly in respect of the awarding of public contracts, will be treated very seriously and warrant mandatory prison sentences.
Background
This case arose from a joint investigation by the Competition Bureau and Quebec’s Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) relating to a system of bid-rigging that targeted public works contracts in the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu region of Quebec. See Competition Bureau statement.
At trial, several individuals were found guilty of various offences of fraud and forgery, contrary to the Criminal Code, in relation to bid-rigging in the awarding of public construction contracts at artificially inflated prices. These contracts together were valued at more than $15 million.
The trial judge sentenced the individuals to conditional sentences to be served in the community ranging from 18 months to 24 months less a day.
The Crown appealed these conditional sentences and asked the Court of Appeal to substitute the sentences sought at trial, which were terms of imprisonment ranging from 21 months to 48 months, depending on the individual. The Crown argued that the conditional sentences were too lenient and did not reflect the seriousness of the offences.
For the full update, see here.
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