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* Barry Elkin, once the principal in audit operations, received an OAG contract for $15,960 in April 2014.

In cases where the values of some of the contracts were increased over the tendering threshold due to “operational needs,” the OAG says it was in the public interest to amend the contracts.

“In deciding whether to amend the contracts, we considered the nature, complexity and sensitivity of the accounting and audit services work required,” said spokesperson Ghislain Desjardins in an email.

“Having considered those factors, we determined that it would not have been in the public interest, and it would not be a good use of public funds, to have another contractor replace those contractors or restart the accounting and audit services work.”

The notice of contracts published through the proactive disclosure system do not indicate the exact nature of work. But the data show contracts issued in 2014, when the auditor general was conducting the Senate expenses audit which required contracting outside help. The OAG said it won’t confirm which contracts were Senate-related until the audit becomes public, which is expected early next month.

It is not uncommon for government employees to become consultants after leaving or retiring, but the use of sole-source contracts pitched right below the limit suggests that the OAG was setting the terms of the deals to bypass the tendering process.

The OAG says it now indicates when contracts are issued to former public servants who are receiving a government pension and will review its proactive disclosure policies to see if it needs to make the same notations on older contracts.

A 2008 Citizen analysis of tendering data showed the gaming of tendering limit was prevalent in other government departments. At Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, Finance Canada and Public Works, a disproportionate share of the contracts issued fell in the $24,000 to $24,999 range.

The $25,000 limit on sole-sourced deals is set by Treasury Board to ensure suppliers get a fair shot at the most important work while allowing departments to move quickly on smaller contracts without having to go to tender.

With files from Jason Fekete, Ottawa Citizen