It seems there's something of a windfall going on with Watson Lake's new multi-level care facility, says Whitehorse architect Charles McLaren.

McLaren said in an interview Thursday that numbers provided by the Department of Health and Social Services show an extraordinary increase in what the government has sole-sourced in contracts for the planning and design of the facility.

McLaren submitted a bid of $541,000 last summer to do the planning and design.

To date, the government has paid $1.56 million for planning and design, almost all of it to three Whitehorse companies.

'It seems to be a little bit like winning the lottery,' McLaren said of the work handed out. 'I just wish my number would come up.'

The veteran architect said planning and design work generally accounts for 10 to 12 per cent of project costs.

His initial bid of $541,000 was in line with the 10- to 12-per-cent rule, given the $5.2 million budgeted for the project.

The $1.56 million spent to date on planning and design accounts for 30 per cent of the overall project cost, he pointed out.

McLaren said he is not begrudging the companies doing the work. However, he suggests either the scope and cost of the project has increased substantially, or there's a pile of profit on the table.

Charles McLaren Architect Ltd. was asked to submit a price, and did so. McLaren said he did not get the work because he refused to use a Watson Lake structural engineer as part of his team.

It was nothing to do with the engineer, he told the Star.

McLaren said the government was looking for a fast-tracked job, and under those circumstances, he wanted to go with the structural engineer he normally works with and knows.

Health Minister Brad Cathers declined comment for this story.

Deputy Health minister John Greschner said today there indeed have been some significant design changes, though the project is still on target with the original $5.2-million budget.

Government records show expenditures for planning and design total $1.56 million were sole-sourced:

• Sinclair and Associates of Whitehorse was paid $33,750 for the conceptual design, $767,000 for the final design and $109,850 to conduct a hospital code review, for a total of $910,600.

• Northern Climate Engineering of Whitehorse was paid $341,500 for mechanical design, and $4,200 to review the code for hospital mechanical requirements.

• Dorward Engineering of Whitehorse was paid $236,400 for electrical design and $3,000 to review the code for hospital electrical requirements.

• Liard Engineering of Watson Lake was paid $50,000 for structural design.

• EBA Engineering of Whitehorse was paid $21,000 for geotechnical analysis.

Raketti Construction of Watson Lake was sole-sourced $140,000 to manage the project, and another $281,000 as the general contractor to build the foundation.

Greschner said of the $910,600 paid to Sinclair and Associates, $109,000 was subcontracted to another Whitehorse firm.

Of the remaining $800,000 paid to Sinclair, the deputy minister estimates $400,000 went toward work researching renovations to the existing hospital, and how the new multi-care facility might serve as a temporary hospital location while the hospital was being renovated.

Greschner said that renovation plan has been cancelled, though that's not to say it won't be used at a time in the future.

Included in McLaren's original bid of $541,000 were the fees to be paid to his bid partners, Dorward Engineering for electrical and Northern Climate Engineering, according to his written submission of July 2005.

The Yukon Party came under fire in the legislature this week for sole-sourcing the work in the riding held by Premier Dennis Fentie.

It was also pointed out that Raketti Construction, owned by Ivan Raketti, the father of cabinet minister Elaine Taylor, has received $421,000 of that work. (See story below.)

Cathers said the government is moving forward with its plan to maximize benefits for Watson Lake workers and companies, in keeping with community wishes to keep the project local.

The minister did note, however, that most of the remaining work will be awarded through the public tender process.

The Yukon government has budgeted $2.3 million for the project this fiscal year. Of the $2.8 million budgeted for the fiscal year just ended, there was $2.04 million spent.

Pat Living, the Department of Health and Social Services' spokeswoman, said the department will be seeking approval to have the $800,000 left over from last year revoted for use this year.

Although authority for sole-sourcing some of $2.04 million came from former Health minister Peter Jenkins, it's unclear how much Cathers authorized.

Cathers was appointed as the new minister of Health after Jenkins quit the party last November to sit as an independent.