Canadian ministries are directing billions of dollars towards consultants with minimal supervision, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“There is no oversight of value for taxpayers’ money,” Conservative MP Kelly McCauley told the House of Commons Government Operations Committee. .“Who is going to step up to protect taxpayers?”.McCauley asked who's ensuring accountability, as it's “very clear the departments are not.” .Department of Public Works associate Assistant Deputy Minister of contracting Mollie Royds said federal spending on contracting is worth $24 billion a year “from office supplies to military equipment and everything in between.” Of the $24 billion, Royds said $16.7 billion is paid to consultants..McCauley asked department managers if they believed taxpayers were receiving fair value for money with all of the billions being spent on outside contracts. No department manager would answer..McCauley cited millions in consulting contracts given to Deloitte. Payments to Deloitte in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic totalled $106.9 million. .NDP MP Gord Johns questioned the exorbitant cost of consultants. .Johns mentioned the Department of Natural Resources is outsourcing two full-time senior access to information consultant positions, and they have invited suppliers to bid on the one-year contract with three one-year options to extend. The estimated value of the contract is $3.8 million..“Based on that estimate, the contract would work out to $469,000 per year for an access to information consultant,” said Johns. .“I’ll hazard a guess this is well above what an access to information officer would be paid as a public service employee.”.Managers testifying at the committee said money was not misused. .“The government has processes, systems and controls in place to ensure procurement is conducted in a manner that upholds the values of fairness, openness and transparency while meeting public expectations in ensuring best value,” said Treasury Board of Canada Executive Director of contracting Emilio Franco..The Canadian government said September 26 it does not know the number of jobs created after half-a-billion dollars in spending on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing led to contracts for a handful of companies. .READ MORE: Canadian government unsure how many positions created from Chinese bank.“The Government of Canada is aware of five Canadian firms having signed contracts as part of the bank’s corporate procurement,” said cabinet. .“As these are private contracts with private companies, the Canadian government cannot estimate how many jobs have been created.”
