Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Summit Helicopters

A Kamloops helicopter company has failed in a legal challenge to extend a lucrative air ambulance contract claiming the procurement process wasn't fair.

Summit Helicopters had claimed irregularities in the bidding process to obtain contracts with the BC Emergency Health Services and the Public Health Services Authority.

According to a recently published May 21 BC Supreme Court decision, Summit Helicopters had been providing helicopter emergency medical services out of Kamloops since 2019 when it signed a six-year contract.

However, in 2021, the province decided on a revamp, and instead of using multiple helicopter companies it would use a single firm.

Summit Helicopters bid for the contract but in 2023 were told they weren't successful, with the contract going to Ascent Helicopters.

However, Summit launched a complaint saying there was a "reasonable apprehension of bias" in the committee that oversaw the contract.

Lawyer Craig Dennis, K.C., was brought in as an independent third party to assist a review committee dealing with the complaint.

The decision said the review committee found that Ascent Helicopter, who won the contract, was a long-standing client of a consulting company owned by the husband of committee member Tammy Schiere.

"The Committee determined that Public Health Services Authority failed to follow its own conflict of interest process and that a reasonable well-informed person would conclude a reasonable apprehension of bias arose from Ms. Schiere’s participation in the procurement decision," BC Supreme Court Justice Bruce Elwood said in the decision.

However, the review committee found that Schiere had acted in good faith and didn't make a finding of actual bias.

The review committee did however find another issue in the procurement process. It found that a blanket exclusion for companies who didn't immediately tick all the boxes was unreasonable and didn't meet the objective of obtaining value for money.

The review committee then recommended that all bids for the contract be looked at again by a new group of people which would be overseen independent third party.

As Summit Helicopters' contract was due to expire, the company went to court arguing the contract should be extended until the re-evaluation procurement process was complete.

Lawyers for the parties spent two days in court arguing about the various legal consequences for continuing with Summit Helicopters' contract.

"Summit argues that BC Emergency Health Services must exercise its discretion to extend the term in accordance with the duty of good faith in the performance of a contractual discretion," the decision read.

The decision didn't say how much the contract was worth, but it is described by Public Health Services Authority's lawyer as "a big deal."

The company said it accounted for 25% of its revenue.

"Summit describes the Kamloops contract as a pillar of its business because it provides Summit with the resources to fund operational capabilities which would otherwise be infeasible. These capabilities, Summit argues, enable it to perform under other contracts, secure new attractive work, retain highly skilled staff, and remain generally competitive in a small industry," the Justice said.

The province argued it knew the contract was coming to an end and it had to account for that.

After much legal wrangling, Justice Elwood sided with the province.

"The public interest favours a continued transition to the new services based on project readiness, not on the uncertain timetable of the re-evaluation process. Ascent is ready and able to commence operations in Kamloops," the Justice said.

The Justice's decision came one day before the contract expired.

While Justice Elwood dismissed the injunction to have the contract continue, the court still retains jurisdiction of the matter as the re-evaluation process ticks over.

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