With Montreal's boroughs facing hikes as steep as 229 percent in the cost of recycling, the Quebec government stepped in yesterday and granted the city a seven-month reprieve to try to reach better deals.
Most boroughs' recycling collection contracts expire on Aug. 31.
A recent round of bids for new contracts resulted in an overall increase of 45.5 percent across all the boroughs, or a jump of $8.65 million in 2003.
The round of tenders is being scrapped and a new one will be called in March, city officials said.
Municipal Affairs Minister André Boisclair used special provincial powers yesterday to permit the city to issue temporary contracts or extend existing ones from Sept. 1 to March 28, 2003.
"We prefer to reserve our comments until we hear," said Pierre Lemoine, president of Rebuts Solides Canadiens.
Rebuts Solides Canadiens and Services Matrec Inc. have most of the recycling contracts on the island, while Théolis Transport and Service Sanitaire Morin have some, the city said.
Matrec spokesman Marie Julie Bégin said her company, which is to meet with the city next week, will also wait for the city's offer before commenting.
Opposition Councillor Ivon Le Duc, chairman of the Mercier/Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council, said the administration of Mayor Gérald Tremblay is naive if it expects companies to suddenly lower bids.
Moreover, Le Duc said he's conducting a probe to see why two companies hold so many contracts and why just five bid on the new contracts. He said he wants "to find out whether there's collusion or price-fixing and also whether there's a way of doing things differently to cut down the prices."
Matrec and Rebuts Solides said they are not worried about Le Duc's probe.
Councillor Alan DeSousa, a member of council's executive committee, said the city has no reason to investigate.
Lemoine said some companies decided not to bid on recycling contracts because the boroughs created "highly complicated" and nearly impossible restrictions in the recent tenders. For instance, instead of permitting a 20-percent margin of error in sorting paper and bottles, the new contracts were going to permit just 5 percent, he said.
Contrary to Le Duc's opinion, "the market is highly competitive," he said.
The cost hikes in the recent bids - the biggest being 229.1 percent in downtown Ville Marie, 123.1 percent in the Côte des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grâce and 105.8 percent in Rivière des Prairies/Pointe aux Trembles/Montreal-East - are said to be due to dramatic hikes in companies' operating costs, such as gasoline prices.