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TORONTO -- Ontario's governing Liberals are standing by a decision to award an $81-million private security contract for Toronto's 2015 Pan Am Games to an American company.

They say the Ontario Provincial Police looked at all the bids and decided Contemporary Security Canada best met the requirements.

But the opposition parties are questioning why they passed over an Ontario-based company whose bid was reportedly $14 million lower.

The OPP say they followed all the rules and most of the security guards hired for the Pan Am Games are expected to come from Ontario.

The Liberals point out that CSC has experience in similar large-scale events, including the Olympics, and the cost of the contract falls within their budget for private security.

But the Progressive Conservatives say that kind of experience isn't needed when all the guards will be providing is basic security at each venue.

"These guards in Ontario and Toronto are perfectly capable of providing that basic service to keep the athletes and spectators safe, without going outside of the country for that sort of service," said critic Rod Jackson.

"Especially at a premium of $14 million."

CSC -- a subsidiary of an international security firm -- is headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., and is licensed to operate in Ontario, the OPP said.

The OPP is leading the Integrated Security Unit, which also includes Toronto, Hamilton, Durham Region, Peel Region, York Region, Niagara Region, Halton Region and South Simcoe police services, as well as the RCMP.

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U.S. firm wins $81M security contract for Toronto's Pan Am Games

Tory MPP says Liberals trying to silence him for exposing budget shortfall
Progressive Conservative MPP Vic Fedeli says Premier Kathleen Wynne #39;s Liberals are trying to silence him for releasing confidential documents that reveal Ont...

By: Toronto Star

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Tory MPP says Liberals trying to silence him for exposing budget shortfall - Video

Expecting the unexpected is a given in a political campaign. Even so, any Quebec pundit who would have predicted, just three weeks ago, that the Liberal Party could form a majority government would have been dismissed as deluded.

A Lger poll released Tuesday confirms that star candidate Pierre Karl Pladeau gave a black eye to the Parti Qubcois when he raised his fist in the air to cheer independence. The threat of another divisive referendum is driving Quebeckers to the Liberal Party in droves. And this shift is occurring despite the fact that liberal leader Philippe Couillard looked inconsistent at the onset of the campaign after flip-flopping on such crucial issues as the zero-deficit target and the Charter of Quebec values.

But you didnt need to be a pollster to figure out that the Liberals have taken the lead for now at least. Looking at Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau debate with his economic counterparts from rival parties on Monday, it is already clear that panic is seeping in the PQ campaign bus.

The mild-mannered Mr. Marceau is not a PQ zealot. And yet even he parroted the new attack line of the week as he kept harping on the Liberals for closing their eyes on the pervasive corruption in public works in their nine years in power Mr. Marceau used the word corruption more than 10 times during the luncheon.

Organized by the Conseil du Patronat du Qubec, one of the provinces most influential business lobbies, the debate was an opportunity to hear how the leading parties intend to deal with Quebecs slow growth and high indebtedness. The two problems are compounded by the provinces rapidly aging population.

As the Liberals appear on course to take power, it is worth taking a closer look at their economic platform, which has been eclipsed by the sovereignty debate since the start of the campaign.

The Liberal Party promises to balance the provinces books in the 2015-16 financial year no matter what, through a rigorous control of public spending. It also wants to kick-start a sleepy economy by speeding up investments in public infrastructure that were put on hold by the PQ and by offering renovation tax credits. This is a Keynesian and populist approach to cure a recession that has long faded away.

More widely, the Liberal Party promises to restore a more predictable and investor-friendly business climate. However, it doesnt believe it is for the state to invest in risky oil exploration as the PQ is endeavouring on Anticosti Island.

Quebec is back in business, boasted Jacques Daoust, a former banker that is running in the Montreal riding of Verdun, during the debate.

Unfortunately, though, the Liberals are making a number of unrealistic assumptions and promises, as is often the case in partisan economic frameworks. In fact, a couple of promises resemble some of the fanciful ones the Parti Qubcois made (and broke) in 2012.

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Quebec Liberals writing cheques their policies cant cash

The Quebec Liberal Party is on course to form a majority government, according to an opinion poll showing the party well ahead of the Parti Qubcois.

The survey, conducted by polling firm Lger, is the first extensive survey of the campaign and corroborates all the signs that PQs campaign started faltering around the time it unveiled star candidate Pierre-Karl Pladeau and got entangled into debates about sovereignty and a referendum.

SOURCE: Leger

At the same time, pollster Christian Bourque, Lgers executive vice-president, said the Liberals lead in key ridings is still thin and the dynamic of the campaign has changed, with front-running Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard under fire from all his rivals.

The adjusted results for the Lger poll:

Liberals: 40 per cent

PQ: 33 per cent

Coalition Avenir Qubec: 15 per cent

Quebec Solidaire: 9 per cent

The level of support for the PQ has dropped only marginally compared with previous polls, while Mr. Couillards Liberals have grown at the expense of the second opposition party, Franois Legaults Coalition Avenir Qubec.

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Quebec Liberals on track to majority, poll shows

Quebecs Liberal Party has increased its lead over the separatist Parti Quebecois and may be on track to form a majority government in the April 7 election, TVA television network reported.

Forty percent of respondents in a new Leger poll would have voted for the opposition Liberals, compared with 33 percent for the Parti Quebecois and 15 percent for the Coalition Avenir Quebec, had an election been held earlier this month, TVA said.

That result probably would be enough for the Liberals to form a majority government, TVA cited Leger President Jean-Marc Leger as saying. The Liberals had 35 percent support when the election was called on March 5, TVA said.

Leger polled 3,692 Quebec residents via the Internet from March 21 to 23. Results are considered to be accurate to within 1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net

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Quebec Liberals Widen Lead Over Separatists in Poll