OGCA backs Bondfield Construction, John Aquino, following Globe and Mail article

The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) has published a newsletter article to express support for Bondfield Construction and its president John Aquino, following articles in the Globe and Mail.

Here is the OGCA’s statement:

“Many of you will be aware of an article in the Globe and Mail recently concerning one of our members, Bondfield. In fairness to our member, we are reprinting below the clarification statement issued by Bondfield’s President, Mr. John Aquino, last week.

“While rare, this is not the first time an OGCA member has been subject to criticism in the media. The OGCA does not normally respond to articles on our members unless a member asks us to. In this case, with the permission of Mr. Aquino, we felt it was appropriate to make a statement to all of our members and supporters.

“The OGCA and its members have always taken a non-interference stance when one of our members is the subject of a media story, refusing to offer opinions or comment based on a limited set of facts. We encourage all OGCA members to do the same, and to respect the rights of members to respond to such stories relating to them in their own official capacity.

“We do wish to note that Bondfield has been and continues to be an outstanding supporter and member of the OGCA. Bondfield is highly regarded in many sectors. Mr. Aquino recently completed his term as Chair of the OGCA, and demonstrated great leadership throughout the past year in supporting issues on behalf of all members, in many instances putting his company’s interests on the line to support our members. At the recent AGM, John was recognized and congratulated for his work and efforts on behalf of the OGCA and all its members.

“As always, the OGCA is here to support and assist all our members in any way we can when they are faced with issues and challenges such as these.”

A statement from Bondfield follows:

“You will have read or heard about an article in The Globe and Mail published on Thursday, September 24 relating to the St. Michael’s Hospital Redevelopment Project. Bondfield was the winning bidder for this project. The process of bidding for complex projects like this one is comprehensive, detailed, and entirely transparent.

“Contrary to the false allegations made by the Globe and Mail, Vas Georgiou did not have any commercial relationship with John Aquino, Bondfield Construction Company or any Bondfield-related company during Mr. Georgiou’s employment at St. Michael’s Hospital. Mr. Aquino is a shareholder and the President of Gervais Property Management Corp. and 1870475 Ontario Inc. Those companies manage two commercial properties located on Gervais Drive in Toronto. Mr. Aquino has no involvement in the daily operation of those companies. Mr. Georgiou was retained by those companies following his leave from Infrastructure Ontario in 2012 to provide technical support and construction co-ordination services. Mr. Georgiou’s work ended when he was hired by St. Michael’s Hospital, but he was contacted in the spring of 2013 to provide follow-up advice on technical issues that he worked on while retained. Mr. Georgiou’s limited engagement with those companies is entirely unrelated to Bondfield’s successful bid on the St. Michael’s Hospital Redevelopment Project.

“Bondfield won the project because it was the highest scoring proponent with the lowest bid. Bondfield’s proposal was within the budget disclosed to the bidders by Infrastructure Ontario. It also met, and in fact exceeded, all of the prescriptive design and technical specifications, phasing and scheduling requirements for the project. Bondfield at all times rigorously followed and complied with the formal procurement process implemented by Infrastructure Ontario.

“This formal process was more vigorously vetted by Infrastructure Ontario than any prior design-build-finance procurement process. During the RFP evaluation process in the fall of 2014, Infrastructure Ontario implemented an additional due diligence process that included retaining an independent third party to provide an expert opinion on the review of Bondfield’s RFP submission. This further review process confirmed that Bondfield’s RFP submission was compliant with all of the RFP requirements.

“We are proud to be associated with the transformation of one of Toronto’s and Canada’s leading hospitals. And we are proud of the commitment of our team to the success of this project, including our lenders, our staff, subcontractors and suppliers.

“Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, please do not hesitate to contact Bondfield’s project representative at info@bondfield.com.”