OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office made a verbal deal with a former White House press secretary for American media help - then drew up the contracts later, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
The "Request for Services Contract" was drawn up 18 days after Ari Fleischer, former spokesman for George W. Bush, began assisting the Prime Minister's Office in mid-March.
And the actual "Confirming Order" for the contract wasn't signed off by the Prime Minister's Office until well after the work was completed - and five days after The Canadian Press submitted an Access to Information request seeking documentation.
"Routinely, when you're looking to contract services in a short period of time, the paper flows somewhat after the work commences," Kory Teneycke, Harper's director of communication, said in an interview.
"But I don't think that's unique or unusual and it's not a violation of the rules in doing so."
Indeed, it appears the self-styled Conservative government of by-the-book accountability did not break the letter of contracting policies.
Verbal deal-making is conspicuously absent from detailed government contracting regulations that appear to cover just about every other possible contingency and run to tens of thousands of words in length.
"Contracts are contractually binding whether they are verbal or in writing," said Robert Makichuk, a spokesman for the Treasury Board Secretariat.
"The practice of entering into verbal contracts is not covered under Treasury Board contracting policy," he added.
"The Treasury Board contracting policy does not prohibit it, nor does it encourage it."
Martha Hall-Findlay, Liberal critic for public works and government services, said the PMO shortcut smacks of a double standard.
"How do the regular oversight rules work if something is done on an oral basis and only confirmed after the fact?" said the Toronto MP.
The Conservatives, she said, have "a pattern of making stuff up as you go along. You play by the rules until it's inconvenient to do so."
The documents obtained by The Canadian Press confirm that Ari Fleischer Communications was paid $24,500 - just under the $25,000 limit for untendered contracts - to provide "U.S. media advice" and "assistance in arranging United States media opportunities that advance Canada's International Economic Objectives."
The contract ran from March 12 to April 10, the target event being Harper's participation at the G20 Summit in London on April 2.
By the time Guy Giorno, Harper's chief of staff, signed the "Request for Service Contract" on March 30, the "proposed" contractor had already been on the job for more than two weeks.
And the "Confirming Order" - which begins, "You are requested to sell to Canada . . . the services listed herein" - is dated April 28.
While the contract term ended April 10, Fleischer also helped set up a Harper media conference call through the U.S.-based Israel Project on April 20.
Teneycke confirmed that Fleischer has been awarded an additional contract - another policy grey area.
Government contracting rules expressly forbid the practice of splitting contracts to get under the $25,000 sole-source spending limit. But Fleischer's continuing work is arguably a new and different deal.
The rules also state that untendered contracts should not be renewed.
"Repeat commissioning of a firm or individual without competition should not become a practice, even if the value of the contract is under the mandatory threshold for the calling of bids," says Treasury Board policy.
