Kentenha/October 2013

Several media representatives have asked for more details regarding the reasons behind the decision to push the tender date back. As was mentioned before, the issues are regulatory, administrative and technical in nature. Quebec and MCK are working to iron-out several jurisdictional issues that would affect the construction contract. During the discussion with Ms. Lori Jacobs, yesterday (October 8, 2013) on K-103's noon talk show, Mr. Deom mentioned that among the issues is the whether or not it will be necessary for contractors and subcontractors to hold a valid contractor licence from the Régie de bâtiments de Québec (RBQ).

The previously scheduled tender date of September 9th was planned in advance, based on the projections of the time required to prepare the plans and specifications. The revised date of October 8th was chosen to afford additional time to properly complete the tender documents.

Several questions have been posed regarding the recent announcement of the tender being delayed. Following are the questions and responses.

1) Why is the tendering delayed again?
The tender period is being delayed to allow resolution of outstanding issues, some of which are regulatory, administrative or technical in nature.

2) When do you plan to go for tendering now?
Tendering is planned to proceed as soon as the outstanding issues have been resolved

3) Will the schedule of construction work will be delayed?
The construction schedule depends directly on the completion of the tender period. Delays to the tender period will necessarily delay the construction schedule,

4) Does the work that has to be done with the Quebec government for the tendering complicate the process before going to tendering for this project. And if so, if it was one of the reason of the delay.
The expansion project is a joint effort between Kahnawake and the province of Quebec, similar in many respects to the arrangement to construct the hospital in 1984. In the current instance, the jurisdictional and legislative landscape has evolved, presenting several unique situations for which there is no precedent.