A lead ArriveCan supplier acknowledged he and a business partner became millionaires under lucrative federal contracts one MP calculated at $2,600 per hour, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I think our work was done very well and I feel like the application was a success,” said GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth in a speech to the House of Commons Government Operations Committee.“I think it did exactly what it was supposed to.”Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, AB) asked the total amount of money GC Strategies took home from ArriveCan. Firth said it was about $2.5 million. The payment represented a 20% commission on federal contracts worth less than $12 million. The Auditor General estimated ArriveCan payments for GC Strategies were closer to $19.1 million.Genuis pointed out Firth and his partner became millionaires through ArriveCan. “Two million five hundred thousand dollars over two years is $1.25 million divided by two people,” said Firth.In exchange for the millions of dollars he received, Genuis asked how many hours they spent working on it. When it came to factoring in invoicing, timesheets, accounting and paying for resources, he said it would have been between 30 and 40 hours. Genuis asked what made Firth so lucky to receive this opportunity. He did not reply. The Auditor General said in a February 12 report incomplete records showed contractors billed at the rate of $1,090 per day. Genuis noted by Firth’s math, GC Strategies billed at the rate of $2,604 per hour or $21,000 per day.“Even if we take at face value your numbers, say 40 hours per month over two years leading to $2.5 million take home, that would measure out that you earned about $2,600 per hour,” he said. “How do you justify to taxpayers that you as a recruiter were effectively billing them at $2,600 per hour?”While the billing rate was high, Firth said it was not an hourly job. All he had to do was work 30 to 40 hours per week. “I can be working in the evenings,” he said. “I can be working on the weekends.”GC Strategies had its security status suspended on March 6 amid the ongoing investigation into ArriveCan. READ MORE: GC Strategies’ security status suspended in wake of ArriveCan investigationSecurity status was a key requirement when bidding on most federal contracts, which GC Strategies did not have to do for its sweetheart deal with the Canadian government. Public Services and Procurement Canada announced the suspension “precludes GC Strategies Inc. from participating in all federal procurements with security requirements.”
A lead ArriveCan supplier acknowledged he and a business partner became millionaires under lucrative federal contracts one MP calculated at $2,600 per hour, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I think our work was done very well and I feel like the application was a success,” said GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth in a speech to the House of Commons Government Operations Committee.“I think it did exactly what it was supposed to.”Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, AB) asked the total amount of money GC Strategies took home from ArriveCan. Firth said it was about $2.5 million. The payment represented a 20% commission on federal contracts worth less than $12 million. The Auditor General estimated ArriveCan payments for GC Strategies were closer to $19.1 million.Genuis pointed out Firth and his partner became millionaires through ArriveCan. “Two million five hundred thousand dollars over two years is $1.25 million divided by two people,” said Firth.In exchange for the millions of dollars he received, Genuis asked how many hours they spent working on it. When it came to factoring in invoicing, timesheets, accounting and paying for resources, he said it would have been between 30 and 40 hours. Genuis asked what made Firth so lucky to receive this opportunity. He did not reply. The Auditor General said in a February 12 report incomplete records showed contractors billed at the rate of $1,090 per day. Genuis noted by Firth’s math, GC Strategies billed at the rate of $2,604 per hour or $21,000 per day.“Even if we take at face value your numbers, say 40 hours per month over two years leading to $2.5 million take home, that would measure out that you earned about $2,600 per hour,” he said. “How do you justify to taxpayers that you as a recruiter were effectively billing them at $2,600 per hour?”While the billing rate was high, Firth said it was not an hourly job. All he had to do was work 30 to 40 hours per week. “I can be working in the evenings,” he said. “I can be working on the weekends.”GC Strategies had its security status suspended on March 6 amid the ongoing investigation into ArriveCan. READ MORE: GC Strategies’ security status suspended in wake of ArriveCan investigationSecurity status was a key requirement when bidding on most federal contracts, which GC Strategies did not have to do for its sweetheart deal with the Canadian government. Public Services and Procurement Canada announced the suspension “precludes GC Strategies Inc. from participating in all federal procurements with security requirements.”
