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Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

However, Deans said that authority was not granted in this case.

“They did not have the authority. They took it upon themselves,” she said. “We delegate all kinds of authority, but there’s limits.

“We have a duty of oversight. We need to make sure that taxpayers’ dollars are being spent well … It’s a significant problem because why do you have thresholds, why do you have minimum scores, if you’re just going to ignore them.”

Deans said she was happy to have received answers to her questions on Friday, but they were too late.

“I’m glad they finally released the documents and admitted they had gone outside the process,” she said.

As for improving the procurement process, Deans said she was at a loss to explain it.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I asked so many times for a straight answer and I still didn’t get it.”

Shawn Menard, one of three councillors to oppose awarding the Stage 2 contracts on March 6, described the staff’s conduct as “unacceptable.”

“It is unacceptable that Council was not provided with this information prior to our vote on this subject and in fact we were refused this information when the question was posed several times,” Menard said in a text message on Saturday.

Auditor general Ken Hughes is investigating the city’s Stage 2 procurement process and staff’s council-delegated authority on the project.

Coun. Rawlson King said Saturday that the procurement process required more caution and analysis to avoid a repeat of events in the Trillium Line situation.