Architects in Parliament renovation scandal deny being threatened

Last week Julia Gersovitz and Norman Glouberman reportedly told MPs they had been warned not to testify.

A parliamentary committee is currently probing a contract awarded to construction firm LM Sauvé to renovate Parliament’s West Block. The firm received the contract after last-minute changes to public works regulations, and some have alleged that Conservative insider Gilles Varin, who was paid more than $118,000 by LM Sauvé, helped the company land the bungled contract. Gersovitz and Glouberman are the architects overseeing the project, and last week asked the committee if they could testify behind closed doors, but were told they could not. Testifying yesterday they denied they had been pressured. Two years before the contract was awarded, a Hells Angel named Normand Ouimet was in charge of LM Sauvé. He was charged with 22 counts of murder yesterday.