Was the TTC shortchanged in accepting a $50 million deal to run its subway station newsstands without first considering rival bids? That could deprive the system of money that could make it better.

Or is Toronto Transit Commission chair Karen Stintz right in arguing a sole-source contract with a company already leasing 65 subway newsstands carries the most reward?

Who knows? That’s the problem when public agencies accept contracts without holding a fair and open competition — it’s impossible to tell if what they’re signing is the best available deal.

For the sake of clarity, and maintaining public confidence in how official business is done, the TTC should have opted for a competitive procurement process. Instead, it broke with a recommendation from its own staff and voted last week to accept an offer from Tobmar Investments International, which runs Gateway newsstands.

Mayor Rob Ford has been sharply critical of the deal — no doubt, in part, because he sees a rival in Stintz. But he goes too far in calling it “appalling” and an “embarrassment.”

It provides for a 67 per cent rent increase over 15 years, a signing bonus of $1.5 million, and an investment of almost $1.5 million in store renovations and upgrades. Most important, it pulls together several scattered existing leases covering newsstands, lottery booths, bakeries and cafes into one comprehensive agreement that expires in 2022, with an option for a five-year extension.

The TTC received the proposal last fall and staff were so impressed they recommended accepting the sole-source deal. The TTC did so in October. Later, however, it decided to re-open the matter and the lease extension came back before the commission. Ford was, somehow, blissfully unaware of all this. By then International News, a rival operator indicated that it wanted to bid. Staff changed its recommendation for the January TTC meeting and urged a competitive process “based on the most recent interest shown by potential bidders.” But the TTC stuck by its initial decision and awarded the prize to Gateway. Finally awake, Ford reacted to that mistake with overblown outrage.

The mayor’s histrionics aside, there’s a lesson here for the TTC — even a good deal is lacking if it isn’t demonstrably the best. Faith in a forthright, fair and open process demands competitive bidding.

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