Labour and Citizens' Services minister Iain Black announced today the B.C. government has reached a $586-million agreement with EDS Advanced Solutions Inc..

That's the same company that the Auditor General last year found had the opportunity to reap “windfall” profits from an earlier contract to collect government revenue, the Tyee reported last April.

Asked what steps the ministry took to make sure this contract doesn't have similar problems, Black said, “I'm not going to comment on what may have happened on the other one, because I'm not going to concede the point.”

“I am not at all concerned about the company receiving funds they are not entitled to by earning it through some very, very high expectations on our part,” he said. “I can tell you this particular contract has been subject to a very thorough both a procurement process and a very, very hard negotiation process and a very, very hard contracting process.”

The new 12-year agreement is for EAS to store and handle data for the government. It affects 120 positions, according to the government's announcement. Some employees have either taken jobs at the same or higher pay with EAS, it said, while others have chosen to remain with the government.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.