OTTAWA - The Conservative government has pledged to closely monitor a $12-million reconstruction contract in Haiti which it doled out without a public bidding process.

The government made the promise in the House of Commons Tuesday after The Canadian Press revealed the contract was awarded to a prominent Alberta company without public tendering.

The project to build a temporary shelter for the Haitian government was given to a subsidiary of Calgary-based ATCO Ltd., which has three Conservative donors on its board of directors.

Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose told the House her department had skipped the process because of the urgency of the situation in Haiti.

The Haitian government, including several of its biggest ministries, was effectively left homeless by January's earthquake.

But opposition parties were unconvinced by the justification, accusing the government of holding a double-standard by asking the NGOs it funds to be accountable.

"This is a slap in the faces of Canadians who opened their hearts and their wallets to help Haiti," said the NDP's Paul Dewar.

Ambrose, in turn, promised ATCO wouldn't receive any special treatment as it carries out the contract.

"Like any contract, (the government) will follow all government contracting regulations, including comparing costs, verifying supplier capacity, and conducting post-contract audits," she said.

She said ATCO had been identified as the only supplier with the suitable expertise for such a project.

ATCO Structures and Logistics has provided temporary shelter and support services for several NATO and UN missions in the past, including the UN response to the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

It has also been the recipient of three Canadian International Development Agency contracts since 2002, totalling around $270,000.

The Canadian government began lobbying, immediately after the Jan. 12 Haitian earthquake, to get involved in such a project.

Consular officials in Port-au-Prince sought assurances from Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive as early as Jan. 21 that Canada would take the lead in providing a home for the country's displaced government.

But it's unclear who first proposed the idea.

An executive with the ATCO subsidiary says it was CIDA that first approached the company to build the facility. CIDA, however, says it was ATCO that initially submitted a proposal.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the project last month during his trip to Haiti. ATCO was finally declared the successful bidder earlier this month.

As the country's first major contribution to the reconstruction effort in Haiti, Dewar said the government should have taken the time to ensure a more transparent process.

"This is probably going to be a decade of engagement and rebuilding," he said in an interview. "We want to make sure that it is done right and that there are no double-standards."

ATCO has some political connections to the governing Conservative party, with several significant donations by high-profile board members.

The chairman of the board, Ronald D. Southern, has donated $3,750 to the Conservative party since 2007, including a $750 donation to Harper's 2008 riding campaign in Calgary Southwest.

The board also includes Don Mazankowski, a former finance minister under Brian Mulroney, who has donated $1,350 to the Conservatives since 2007.

The company's corporate director, Robert T. Booth, also made a $411 contribution to Peter MacKay's re-election campaign in 2008.