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Montreal is paying as much as double the going price of granite in a $3.45-million contract to install statues that resemble tree stumps on Mount Royal for the city’s 375th anniversary next year.

The contract is 27 per cent above an estimate the city obtained for the work before going to tenders. And the city says the principal factor explaining the price difference is the granite, which is the main item called for in the contract.

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The prices in the winning contract bid for a host of granite items are, on average, 43 per cent higher than the city’s estimate, and they’re even higher than a second estimate the city decided to obtain for several items after it opened the contract bids. On non-granite items, the prices in the winning bid were generally below or equivalent to the initial estimate, the city says.

The contract to Aménagement Côté Jardin Inc. was approved by a majority vote at the most recent Montreal city council meeting in May and at a meeting of the agglomeration council, composed of Montreal and the island suburbs, a few days later, even though opposition party Projet Montréal and all suburbs voted against it at their respective meetings.