Banned for five years from public contracts due to a lack of integrity, the bulk transport and snow removal company Valosphere will be able to temporarily continue its activities.
Less than 48 hours before Christmas and as winter sets in, the Superior Court granted Valosphere this Monday a stay of the decision rendered by the Public Procurement Authority (AMP) on December 12.
At the end of an investigation that lasted more than a year, the AMP gave the Mirabel company 60 days to cease its public contracts, including several for snow removal on major roads in the Montreal region.
The public contracts watchdog accused Valosphere of having misled it about the true role within the company of Louis-Pierre Lafortune, an ex-criminal who had links to the Hells Angels.
In the days following the decision, Valosphere contested its registration in the Register of Ineligible Companies (RENA).
She considers in particular that the AMP's approach was unreasonable and unfair. The company has always maintained that Lafortune was a mere consultant and not a manager.
She recently informed the AMP that Lafortune no longer worked for her.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
Already impacts
The decision rendered Monday by Judge Danye Daigle of the Superior Court does not overturn that of the AMP, but it temporarily puts it on ice. The parties have until January 31 to prepare their case in order to debate the merits of the Valosphere challenge.
Valosphere has 150 employees and 120 heavy vehicles. Nearly half of its annual turnover is made up of public contracts. Already, the impacts of the announcement of the banning of the company would be felt.
“It appears that several of Valosphère's co-contractors did not wait for the expiration [du délai de 60 jours accordé par l’AMP] to inform the company's representatives of their intention to end their business relationship,” writes Judge Daigle.
Valosphere notably carries out snow removal on Highway 440, in Laval, as well as Highway 20 and Route 138 in the Mercier Bridge sector, in Montreal. It also holds several municipal contracts.
If the AMP's decision were to stand, the company would not be able to act as a contractor or subcontractor for a city or ministry until December 2029.
