Francophonie Games marketing contract went to firm led by committee member's partner

The president of a Moncton consulting firm that received a marketing contract for the 2021 Jeux de la Francophonie is the partner of a former member of the event's organizing committee.

Mike Randall, the president of Portfolio, is the partner of Kim Rayworth, one of four organizing committee members who resigned last week amid controversy over the soaring cost of the games.

The couple are not married but Randall confirmed the connection.

"Yes, Kim Rayworth is my partner," he said.

Rayworth said by email she was not involved in the awarding of the contract.

"I declared a personal conflict in any decisions or conversations concerning Portfolio and recused myself from any participation in any decision-making process," she said.

Rayworth is also a long-time Liberal insider who former premier Brian Gallant identifies as one of several friends involved with the organizing committee.

"Kim Rayworth's a friend," Gallant confirmed Friday.

Gallant also said Friday he recused himself from cabinet decisions on the games in the winter or spring of 2017 because he had "quite a few friends who got involved in these games."

Rayworth was appointed to the board of directors for the organizing committee of the games by Francine Landry, the Liberal minister responsible for the Francophonie, in October 2017.

Randall would not discuss his company's contract with the committee.

"We are a strategic solutions company that does work with a lot of clients," Randall said in a brief telephone interview. "Our number one policy is we do not talk about any of clients, ever."

Tracey Suley, the director of communications for the games committee, said it developed a request for proposals for a $75,000 marketing plan in July 2018 and sent it to 10 companies.

She said the submissions were formally evaluated "by an outside expert in sports marketing, an employee of [the provincial government] and the [previous] director of communications and marketing at the games."

Unanimous decision

The entire board approved the choice of Portfolio in September, she said.

Suley said Eric Larocque, the executive director of the organizing committee and another friend of Gallant, recused himself from the process along with Rayworth.

Rayworth and the other committee members who resigned last week said they were quitting because the new Progressive Conservative government had lost confidence in them.

In a written statement, they blamed the "undue controversy" over the games' new $130 million price tag.

The province's original bid for the event, based on figures from the International Organization of La Francophonie, was $17 million.

Premier Blaine Higgs says the province, which committed to funding close to half of the cost of the games, will not spend more than $10 million. That's the upper range of the original commitment.

$927K spent by N.B. so far

A provincial spokesperson said Friday that $2.6 million has been spent on the games so far, mainly for office rent, salaries and travels. Of that, $927,300 has come from New Brunswick.

Along with the 2021 games, Portfolio lists several other government or quasi-public clients on its website, including the federal and New Brunswick governments, NB Power, the City of Dieppe, and the Fredericton airport authority.

Public records show Portfolio billed the province $47,165 in 2016-17 and $33,875 in 2015-16.

Randall is a former communications executive with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. He worked as a communications director under the Liberal government two decades ago.

Rayworth oversaw the New Brunswick Liberal Party's renewal commission, a process launched after the party lost the 2010 election. The commission recommended giving grassroots party members a greater say in decisions.

She later became the vice-president of communications on the provincial party executive but is no longer in that position.