Links to Chretien in Non-tendered Building Sale

Kathy Tomlinson of CTV’s ‘Whistleblower’ confronted Public Works Minister Scott Brison about a non-tendered sale of the Skyline Complex owned by Andre Desmarais, Jean Chretien’s son-in-law.

The aging building was bought for $91 million from Desmarais with another $82 million that had to be pumped into it before it’s inhabitable. The building was found to have black toxic mould – Stachybotrys - that could endanger the health of the employees and cause considerable repairs in the future

The Government was warned that it could have mould problems before it was bought in March 2003, but that didn’t seem to bother Public Works.

Unnamed real estate consultants – unnamed because they do business with the government and may face retribution – say that a new building could have been built to spec for less than the cost that is being flooded into this one.

When confronted on air by CTV’s Kathy Tomlinson the look on Brison's face was priceless. He couldn’t stop blinking and stuttering when asked why Public Works was still buying older buildings that was against their publicly stated policy.

Brison stated: 'The fact is we buy buildings on an ongoing basis and we evaluate them in terms of best possible value for the taxpayer.'

No mention about the non-tendered transaction with connections to Chretien was addressed.