The TTC is expected to renege on a deal with its current newsstand operator after the contract was slammed by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and competing newsstand operators for not being competitive.
The Toronto Transit Commission previously approved a 10-year, $48-million lease extension with Gateway Newsstands, though the contract was later criticized as being a sole-source deal.
A third-party review of the deal recommended that TTC put the newsstands deal out to tender.
“This has been a very complex issue and today we’re going to discuss a third-party review,” TTC Chair Andy Byford told CTV Toronto on Monday. “The third party made a recommendation that it should be a RFP (request for proposal). This morning meeting will determine what needs to be done.”
The board is expected to withdraw from the extension at its meeting Monday afternoon, based on the recommendation from consulting firm Altus Group Ltd.
TTC chair Karen Stintz warned, however, that ripping up the contracts would cost $3 million.
“It’s been a long and controversial issue that didn’t need to be controversial,” she said Monday.
She said she expects the RFP will be out later this year and a contract will be in place in 2014.
Some councillors said Monday that tendering the newsstands contracts is the right decision.
“This is a win for the taxpayers, it’s a win for accountability and it’s a win for transparency,” said Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong. “It took a while to get the TTC to see the error of their ways and I’m glad the chair of the commission is finally seeing the light.”
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Colin D’Mello
