Report on Invest MH procurement due before election

By Medicine Hat News on September 9, 2021.

A third-party report into the process to contract out economic development and land development in Medicine Hat could be ready in early October in the final council meeting before the Oct. 18 municipal election.

Coun. Darren Hirsch, the chair of council’s “audit committee,” provided details Tuesday to council that the report will be done by national business advisory firm Deloitte, which, said Hirsch, currently has no other dealings with the City of Medicine Hat.

The report will not examine the financial dealings of the Invest Medicine Hat office, but rather how the procurement process was handled. It could be ready Oct. 4, according to an update from corporate services director Dennis Egert.

The News was the first to report both that a tendering process was underway to spin out Invest Medicine Hat’s responsibilities, which were contracted out prior to 2019, and also that six current city employees were involved in a company creating a bid.

That company provided the only registered bid by a deadline, but later pulled back the package, resulting in the entire process being halted.