Government’s choice of the Canadian Commercial Corporation for a new airport terminal was defended in yesterday’s House of Assembly against Opposition charges that the CCC was not a reputable organisation.

Bob Richards, the Finance Minister, repeatedly told Parliament that controversy over the CCC’s dealings were “based on false premises”, and that the corporation itself had not been blacklisted.

Facing a sceptical Progressive Labour Party, the Deputy Premier said that the CCC, a federal crown corporation owned by the Canadian Government, was required to account for its activities before Canada’s parliament.

Officials from Bermuda’s LF Wade International Airport travelled to Quito, Ecuador, to vet the organisation, which recently built a new airport there, the Finance Minister said. A “go or no-go decision” will be made on Bermuda’s agreement with the CCC before the end of this year.

In a lengthy round of questioning in which tempers rose occasionally on both sides, Mr Richards maintained that, while the CCC had done deals with some companies that had been charged with corruption, MPs need to look at it against “the totality of world commerce”.

Mr Richards, who claimed that media reports that faulted the CCC’s conduct were skewed, said: “You could say that for a lot of large countries. You want to say that the whole of Canada’s corrupt?”

Marc Bean, the Opposition leader, questioned the Minister at length over the “novel procurement method” extolled in his statement.

He asked if the lack of a traditional, open and transparent request for proposal tendering process might not increase risks of bribery and corruption.

“In addition to the oversight with the Canadian Government’s parliamentary committee, we have retained an independent, world-class contracting firm to validate the value for money in this process,” Mr Richards said, adding that the traditional RFP process had gone awry before in Bermuda.

He cited Heritage Wharf, Port Royal Golf Course and the new police and court building as costing Government millions.

“It can be bent by a Government that is intent to bend it,” Mr Richards said.

Although plans for the new terminal date back to a 2008 master plan, Mr Richards said planning the facility would require “working backwards”: estimating the expected cash flow for the airport over a 30-year time period, and then “figuring out what kind of airport we can build with it”.

Asked if revenues taken from Bermuda’s airspace would be used to pay for the project, Mr Richards wavered.

“It may or may not be,” he told Shadow Minister David Burt. “I can’t confirm or deny. It’s way too early in the game.”

He defended the expense of the project, repeatedly telling MPs that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and saying that the arrangement with the CCC was the best financial option. However, Mr Richards explained that the entity he had earlier alluded to, the Bermuda Airport Authority, would be created as an entity by which Government would make a final deal for the new terminal.

“It does not exist at the moment,” he said. Government’s Memorandum of Understanding with the CCC, which could lead to construction beginning for the new terminal by next year if the deal is approved, was tabled in yesterday’s sitting of the House.

Mr Richards told MPs that a letter of entrustment had been received from the British Government for the agreement. Government had consulted with the Accountant General, he said, and had received approval to move forward with the CCC.

However, he cautioned that no contracts have thus far been signed in relation to the November 10 memorandum.