The provincial NDP is crying foul after the government dished out roughly $244,000 to outsource communications consultants.

Three contracts were awarded to Enterprise Canada through a “limited call process”—a mechanism meant for situations where there is only one available source. This means the contracts were not publicly tendered.

The same company billed the province $53-thousand for services during the Bay du Nord expansion announcement earlier this year.

NDP Leader Jim Dinn says the government needs to be transparent about the issue, calling the lack of communication a “serious problem.”

He likens the situation to the hiring of Dr. Des Whalen, arguing the highly-paid consultant has not brought any meaningful improvements to the province’s healthcare system.