The territorial government is cancelling the awarding of a contract related to the new French-language high school to a Northwest Territories firm.

The government said Friday it will instead opt to hire a Yukon company after efforts to make the bidding process more competitive.

That’s according to Highways and Public Works (HPW) Minister Richard Mostyn.

Work is underway at the department to put together a request for proposals (RFP) that will allow contractors “several weeks to prepare bids,” he told the Star Friday afternoon.

“After investigating this decision, I’ve decided to end the contract with TAG,” he said after YG initially agreed to fork over $904,086 to Yellowknife-based Taylor Architecture Group (TAG).

He added that issuing the offer to “an Outside firm for $900,000 worth of work does not align with this government’s commitment and goals.”

The contract would have seen TAG act as the owner’s representative.

“We will invite local firms to submit proposals, to get that competitive process which gets us the best price - but restrict it to local firms,” the minister added.

According to department spokesperson Doris Wurfbaum, of the more than $900,000 contract: about $172,000 was paid to TAG for work completed for phase one with an additional $23,000 for phase two.

That means there will now be about $708,000 worth of work that returns to tender for phase three of the project for construction, administration and the compliance team.

The cancellation comes after the Yukon Chamber of Commerce and some local firms spoke out against the contract, saying it was caught off-guard and concerned with keeping business as local as possible.

“We’re trying to keep more money in the local economy,” Mostyn said, acknowledging that the contract had raised eyebrows among local firms and others.

“We’re listening to the business community on this file.”

It’s also after contractors told the government that they wanted an opportunity to do the work but weren’t afforded that opportunity in as competitive as a bidding process as he’d have liked, Mostyn added.

Wurfbaum noted that the firm Kobayashi and Zedda Architects (KZA) had originally won the contract, but the cost ballooned to more than $700,000 because of a number of changes in the project.

The government and KZA were unable to negotiate, eventually ending the contract – but the newer contract with TAG did include some items that were not in the agreement with KZA.

Among them, Wurfbaum added, were assisting in the awarding of the larger design and build contract for the entire school, provide in-depth reviews and recommendations of the design and build submissions, and once-a-month site inspection reports of the site.

Meanwhile, Mostyn’s statements Friday come on the heels of the government initially defending the decision. Earlier this month, the department explained that the contract had been awarded to an Outside firm in efforts to allow local firms to hold out for the bigger and better construction works.

That was Scott Milton, HPW’s acting assistant deputy minister, who assured that the process had been competitive – with TAG being a qualified body on a list of about 35 firms for the government to choose from.

Some of the parties on that list were local businesses, he said, noting then that it is updated every couple of years.

Milton explained that the awarding of the contract was not through a sole-source option, instead a competitive standing offer agreement (SOAs).

He added that there was no cap on how much can be spent when it comes to SOAs, which is in part what raised eyebrows as documents suggested there is a $250,000 limit.

After Milton, Wurfbaum had briefly told the Star that the limit is used as a “guideline” for both SOAs and sole-sourced contracts.

Once that limit is exceeded, officials are to notify their deputy minister, who must sign off on it, the communications and public relations analyst added.

Wurfbaum also confirmed that approval was received by the deputy authority (Jaime Pitfield), which did reflect Milton’s statements to the Star.

However, on Friday, Mostyn offered some clarification, saying there is indeed that limit on SOAs – but was unable to say why there had been that miscommunication from the department to the media.

“The department made a mistake.

“I don’t know why the mistake was made, but they made a mistake – so we’re correcting that mistake.”

The minister shied away from saying the initial process was not competitive at all.

Instead, he opted to say that “it should have gone through a more competitive bidding process.”

Mostyn, also the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, did not speak about the possibility of any human resource changes within the department as a result of the mistake – instead likening the situation to a learning experience.

“I am not one for being punitive; I want people to recognize their mistakes and learn from them.

“Nobody’s infallible,” the minister sighed, adding that the department has been working to improve procurement “and it’s very important to keep that front and centre.”

The minister added he is confident the cancellation and awarding of the work will not push forward the ultimate timeline connected to the project.

“We’re optimistic we can get kids into the school at the same time we were planning to get them through.”

According to documents shown on the government’s tender management system, the French-language school is to reach substantial performance by about mid-September of 2020.

During that year, there will be a number of other projects in the area, including track and field upgrades at F.H. Collins Secondary School and a new weight room and outdoor learning area.

Documents noted that a Lewes Boulevard bus drop-off area, a footpath and other parking areas will also be underway.

The site will include space for 150 students and 25 staff. That will bring the list of schools in the city’s Riverdale neighbourhood to a total of six.

It already houses Selkirk Elementary School, Grey Mountain Primary School, F.H. Collins, Vanier Catholic Secondary School and Christ the King Elementary School.

According to the online system, firms within the Yukon are listed as interested parties for the tender, as are companies from N.W.T, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario. American companies from Washington and Colorado are also mentioned.

Meanwhile, Wurfbaum added that the tender for the $708,000 or so worth of work has not been issued yet, but the department expects it to be released “very soon.”