An ArriveCan supplier faces a summons to the bar of the House of Commons to name friends in the Canadian government who provided inside tips on millions in contracts, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “Who was in charge?” said Conservative MP Michael Barrett (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON) in a speech in the House of Commons. “We have not seen any ministers stand up and take responsibility.”Barrett sponsored the summons — the first involving a federal contractor since 1913. The House of Commons Government Operations Committee (CGOC) said in a March 13 report it was censuring GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth. GC Strategies is a two-man consulting firm working from a private home and received $107.7 million in federal contracts, including ArriveCan arrangements it billed at the equivalent of $2,600 per hour.“The committee was unable to ascertain certain facts from Mr. Firth who repeatedly refused to answer questions, citing a potential investigation by the RCMP as justification,” said the CGOC. Additionally, the CGOC said answers Firth did provide were often misleading or false. Barrett said Parliament must find out who tipped off GC Strategies to sole-sourced contracts and approved payment of lucrative commissions, despite irregularities such as missing invoices. He accused it of being “more than happy to dole out millions.”“That raises questions as to exactly what government officials were doing when all of this was going down,” he said. “They were too busy being wined and dined by contractors.”Bloc Quebecois and NDP MPs expressed support for the motion to summon Firth for questioning by the House of Commons. “Those questions Mr. Firth refused to answer will be answered,” said NDP MP Peter Julian (New Westminster-Burnaby, BC). “We are getting to a consensus around that fact.”Liberal MPs said they were wary of a summons. “We need to establish how we do this,” said Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, ON). “What does this look like from a practical implementing perspective?”If the House of Commons was to move forward with a summons, Gerretsen said it had not been done in a long time. “We really do not have a practice or a proper procedure for doing this,” said Gerretsen. Parliament last summoned a federal contractor to the bar of the House of Commons in 1913 — when the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee censured former Diamont Light and Heat Company Limited president Richard Miller for obstructing a corruption probe. Miller was summoned for questioning over payments to unnamed Quebec Liberal MPs totalling $41,926 — the modern equivalent of $1.1 million. He refused to answer and was held for 106 days at the Carleton County Jail. GC Strategies had its security status suspended on March 6 in the wake of the ongoing investigation into ArriveCan. READ MORE: GC Strategies’ security status suspended in wake of ArriveCan investigationSecurity status is a key requirement when bidding on most federal contracts — an item 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.”
