What can we all learn from the Ottawa Hospital bid-rigging and kickbacks scandal?

At first glance, the civil lawsuit launched by the Ottawa hospital against two former employees and five contractors for alleged bid-rigging and kickbacks may seem worlds away from life in the Canadian home building and renovation industry. Yet there are morality lessons to be learned that transcend this specific situation. And one of those lessons is that promising “off the record” side benefits are a slippery slope to be avoided.

It can all seem quite harmless at first. A call comes in from a key customer, who says…

“My daughter’s looking for work. She’s smart, hard-working. She just can’t find the right job. Got any openings at your place?”

This seems innocent enough, right? You might even be looking for sales or administrative help in your office. However, it opens up the door for a potential payback down the line.

“You’re a good guy and I like your approach to business. Let’s sit down sometime after work and see how we can do more business together.”

Great! More business from a good client! But wait a second… Are you being offered an inside track on bidding? Will details concerning other bidders’ submissions be offered to you to help you win contracts?

“Hey! Can you do me a favour? The back deck on my house is starting to rot. Would you be a pal and send someone around to have a look?”

Everyone likes to do a customer a favour, but could this lead to further favours, like undertaking some off-book work for free or below cost?

“You know, I’ve been pretty good to you over the past year or so. Think you could find a way to say ‘Thank You?’ My wife’s been bugging me about a trip down south this winter…”

It’s getting worse. Now you’re in the position of either giving an inappropriate ‘Thank You’ or risk losing some business in future if you don’t.

“Listen, Fred in accounting has been looking into some of the stuff you and I have been doing and he’s asking questions. I don’t think it would take much to keep him happy. Got any ideas?”

Oh-oh! The word’s getting out. Your secret bro-mance with the Decision Maker is turning into a love triangle. It could start getting very complicated now.

“You know what! They just gave me the boot! They’re looking into every deal I’ve done for the past five years! You gotta give me a job! I can help with some tenders applications I know are coming up.”

In for a penny, in for a pound. You can now put an official lock on the seriousness of your situation by giving your benefactor a job. As if know one’s ever gonna find out about that!

Sound completely ludicrous to you? Good! If you’re one of the hard-working, honest, and successful contractors in this country, you don’t need to get tangled up in a mess like this!

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