Quebec returns the ball of the TELUQ file to the Public Procurement Authority

Photo: Francis Vachon Le Devoir “On specific issues like this, it’s up to the AMP to decide whether to intervene,” said Sonia LeBel, whose Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for the tendering process.

Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel passed the buck to the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) on Thursday, asking the watchdog to investigate the methods used by TELUQ University, which uses public funds to delegate educational research.

“It is precisely the AMP's job to verify, so we will let it do its job if necessary. […] On specific files like this, it is up to the AMP to decide whether to intervene,” said Ms. LeBel, whose Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for the tendering process.

Le Devoir revealed Thursday that TELUQ had used nearly $1 million from schools to delegate education research activities to a private company, GECA. A TELUQ call for tenders for services in schools was prepared by an education professor, Steve Bissonnette, who had ties to the bidders.

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Despite this, Education Minister Bernard Drainville said he “does not at all” question his trust in TELUQ, whose short programs for accessing the teaching profession he often praises. “What TELUQ tells us is that, since the change of administration [in 2018], the contract awarding process has been tightened. And so, I have confidence that TELUQ will enforce the rules for awarding contracts.”

The former general director of TELUQ, Martin Noël, was suspended in July 2018 by the then Minister of Higher Education, Liberal Hélène David, due to “irregularities,” some of which were related to the Act respecting contracting by public bodies.

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When it came to power a few months later, the Coalition avenir Québec then downplayed the matter. The Minister of Education at the time, Jean-François Roberge, stated that the file had been “a little inflated under the previous government.” Mr. Noël was rehabilitated in 2019 and returned to a teaching position at TELUQ.

The call for tenders that Le Devoir reported on was also signed in 2017 by two TELUQ directors, Louise Boucher and Caroline Brassard. Ms. Brassard was chosen by Minister Drainville in December 2023 to head a committee of experts. Since this committee was to approve training courses offered by TELUQ, its appointment was criticized by the deans and the opposition, who saw it as a conflict of interest.

“Red flags”

In the National Assembly, Solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal asked the government to investigate this matter.

The office of the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, believes that it is not up to him to investigate. “One thing is certain: the tendering processes must be respected. We will not comment on the facts alleged at that time, but if necessary, we will let the competent authorities shed light on it,” wrote press attaché Simon Savignac.

The interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, said of the situation at TELUQ that it “raises legitimate questions about compliance with the rules of ethics and transparency.” “A lot of red flags, it’s a file that raises a lot of questions,” he declared.

“It's not normal,” also stated PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “If we send public funds to a private company with which we have a collusion, and we make a profit on it, clearly, public funds are not used for research. It's a governance problem. It's the government's job to ensure, in terms of the use of public funds, that we achieve the objectives.”

MNA Ghazal said she found “it very, very worrying, what is happening at TELUQ with this researcher [Steve Bissonnette].” “This is not the first time,” she stressed. “I would like Minister Bernard Drainville and the government—or Pascale Déry—to investigate the situation,” she added. She recalled having previously expressed concerns about short training courses leading to the teaching profession. “What worries me a lot is the quality of the training. And after that, these training courses are based on research like this, which is private,” she said.

TELUQ’s short training includes courses on “effective teaching.” Mr. Bissonnette is conducting several research projects on one of its components, “positive behaviour support.” He also sells training courses to schools on this subject through his private company.