Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 11/98) - The co-owner of bankrupt Yellowknife catering company Taste of Class, wants to stick a fork in Stanton's food services contract.

Brian Chaput said when the Stanton Regional Health Board chose Marriott's Canadian subsidiary over Taste of Class back in 1996, it turned its back on an opportunity to directly support Northern companies -- his and the local businesses he would have bought the food from.

Over two years ago, Stanton decided to privatize food services and awarded a five-and-a-half year contract to Marriott Corporation of Canada, part of Maryland-based Marriott International Inc. The deal runs to March 2002.

Prior to 1996, Marriott had managed the food services at the hospital. Staff were then Stanton employees.

Donna Zaozirny, operations and planning director at Stanton, said the best overall bid -- Marriott Corporation of Canada's -- won.

The decision was made based on eight categories with cost the most heavily weighted, she said.

Contracting out the food services contract has saved the hospital about $400,000, Zaozirny said.

On Northern spending, Zaozirny said over the past six months, 47 per cent of Stanton's food buying has been from Northern suppliers including dairy and baked goods as well as fruit and vegetables.

The board cannot disclose financial details of Marriott's bid, she said.

Stanton has supported local companies through contracts with Air Tindi for medical evacuations, Buckets and Brooms for housekeeping and YZF Corporate Travel, she said.

Zaozirny said Chaput had the option to appeal the decision but did not.

Chaput said he has waited two years before openly criticizing the deal for various reasons.

There has been a lot of talk about how successful government has been at getting non-Northern companies to spend Northern and that was not the case here, he said.

Another reason Chaput opted not to criticize the deal at the time was because he felt if he did, he might jeopardize his existing catering business.

While Stanton was deciding on who would get the food contract, Chaput's company was catering for the legislative assembly. Stanton is funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories through the Department of Health and Social Services.

Stanton's move to privatize the food services, which includes in-patient meals, the cafeteria and in-patient and out-patient dietary services, was driven by government cutbacks.

The April 1996 Stanton dietary and housekeeping review said it was costing about $1.3 million to run Stanton's food department and that privatizing the department could save $273,521.

Chaput figured he could have provided the services for $805,146. Before putting together his proposal, he checked out three hospitals of similar size to Stanton.

The $805,146 included an estimate of $307,250 for food. But buying Northern could add another 20 per cent, he said.

On staff, the Taste of Class proposal called for 14 employees and wages of $407,623. According to the 1996 review, 19 people worked in Stanton food services and earned $768,064.

Currently, 17 people work in Stanton's food services division.

Chaput said he understood that Stanton thought Marriott had more experience, but Taste of Class had what he felt was a solid reputation and local experience.

Over its six years of operation, the company had routinely catered for the Department of National Defence and at many other functions. It also fed visiting dignitaries. Taste of Class has even catered parties for Stanton hospital staff.

"I was good enough to feed them when they were healthy," he said, his voice laced with frustration and disbelief.

With Taste of Class broke, Chaput said he will head south looking for work. After he failed to get the Stanton deal, he went to work in the North's resource industry's construction sector, but that job has concluded.

And what about Martin Vickers, the other owner of Taste of Class?

His business -- Buckets and Broomsticks -- continues. It has the hospital's janitorial contract.