Deloitte, Ramboll incinerator reports removed from MRC Pontiac website
Deloitte, Ramboll incinerator reports removed from MRC Pontiac website
This story has been updated from its original version to include a response from MRC Pontiac.
Less than 24 hours after being uploaded to the MRC Pontiac website, links to two reports on a proposed waste incinerator project in the region have been removed. The documents were produced by consulting company Deloitte and subcontractor Ramboll, at a cost of just over $100,000.
CHIP 101.9 saved PDF versions, which are available here. The two documents are in English only, with no official translation.
While the two reports were included in the MRC’s press release on the afternoon of April 11, the links were removed sometime between then and 3:30 p.m. on April 12. In an email sent April 15, MRC communications advisor Francis Beausoleil explained that they were removed due to a confidentiality agreement with the companies.
“In keeping with the commitment made by the Prefect when announcing the public presentations on the Energy-from-Waste project, late Thursday afternoon the MRC Pontiac made public the initial business analysis prepared by Deloitte, which also included a feasibility study prepared by Ramboll. We were advised Friday morning by the parties involved that releasing these documents violated a third-party confidentiality clause that was written into the contract to commission the analysis. In our opinion, these documents are in the public domain since they were paid for with taxpayers’ money. That said, we have for the time being removed the links to the documents while we carry out legal verifications concerning the publication of these documents.”
In a follow-up email, he said that even if the MRC receives the company’s consent to publish the documents, uploading them in English only would violate provincial language laws. He added that the MRC doesn’t have the expertise or capability to translate the documents in-house, due to their technical nature, and further funding would have to be approved by council to have them translated.
At a town hall presentation of the documents in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes on March 25, Allumettes Mayor Corey Spence highlighted a line stating that Deloitte must give consent prior to the public distribution of the document.
“[The report] is prepared for the use of MRC Pontiac, any distribution of this report will require consent from Deloitte and [technical subcontractor] Ramboll,” he read from the slide show.
When asked if they had requested this consent, he deferred to MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller, who said that she “didn’t think we needed permission” and reiterated that the documents would be released after the final town hall meeting.
