Comptroller General Roch Huppe said a two-man consulting firm based in a private home in Woodlawn, ON, received a total $107.7 million in Canadian government contracts — the highest figure confirmed to date — according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I find what occurred deplorable,” said Huppe in a speech at the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.Huppe admitted he could not explain payments on ArriveCan, which saw GC Strategies paid $19.1 million for work it subcontracted to other suppliers at a 30% commission. Conservative MP Kelly Block (Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek, SK) asked who was being held accountable for ArriveCan’s failures. “We are taking this very seriously,” said Huppe. Block asked if departments police themselves. Huppe responded by saying that was a great question. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he said all Canadian government managers were warned to keep meticulous records.“The importance became the documentation, making sure if you are going to make a decision and some controls will be foregone, to document the rationale of your decision,” he said.Auditors discovered in the case of GC Strategies, key documents vanished, including any records about who contacted it first. Liberal MP Valerie Bradford (Kitchener South-Hespeler, ON) pointed out one of the problems was the documentation was not done and those records do not exist. “That is why the Auditor General has a lot of difficulty in actually even determining how much the app did cost at the end of the day,” said Bradford. “It’s a best guess because of poor recordkeeping.”Huppe named GC Strategies as a longtime federal contractor. Between 2011 and 2024, departments reported there had been 118 contracts with it totalling $107.7 million.“Providing accurate and open information about our contracts is essential to safeguarding the trust Canadians put in their institutions,” he said. When it comes to sweetheart contracting, Bloc Quebecois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagne (Terrebonne, QC) said ArriveCan “is probably the tip of the iceberg.” “There are obviously internal controls that were not put in place and were not upheld,” she said.Since these policies were not followed, Sinclair-Desgagne asked if he had washed his hands of it. However, he said the Comptroller General did its job. She said who ensures rules are followed. In the Comptroller General, he said it has a decentralized accountablity model. Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie (Calgary-Midnapore, AB) questioned if the Treasury Board was involved in reviewing contracts for ArriveCan. Huppe confirmed the Treasury Board was not. To Canadians who might be concerned, she requested he say if they received value for money with ArriveCan. “It was very difficult to understand exactly the value for money,” he said. GC Strategies had its security status suspended on Wednesday amid the ongoing investigation into ArriveCan. READ MORE: GC Strategies’ security status suspended in wake of ArriveCan investigationThe security status was a key requirement when bidding on most federal contracts, which it did not have to do for its sweetheart contract with the government. Public Services and Procurement Canada announced the suspension “precludes GC Strategies Inc. from participating in all federal procurements with security requirements.”
Comptroller General Roch Huppe said a two-man consulting firm based in a private home in Woodlawn, ON, received a total $107.7 million in Canadian government contracts — the highest figure confirmed to date — according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I find what occurred deplorable,” said Huppe in a speech at the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.Huppe admitted he could not explain payments on ArriveCan, which saw GC Strategies paid $19.1 million for work it subcontracted to other suppliers at a 30% commission. Conservative MP Kelly Block (Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek, SK) asked who was being held accountable for ArriveCan’s failures. “We are taking this very seriously,” said Huppe. Block asked if departments police themselves. Huppe responded by saying that was a great question. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he said all Canadian government managers were warned to keep meticulous records.“The importance became the documentation, making sure if you are going to make a decision and some controls will be foregone, to document the rationale of your decision,” he said.Auditors discovered in the case of GC Strategies, key documents vanished, including any records about who contacted it first. Liberal MP Valerie Bradford (Kitchener South-Hespeler, ON) pointed out one of the problems was the documentation was not done and those records do not exist. “That is why the Auditor General has a lot of difficulty in actually even determining how much the app did cost at the end of the day,” said Bradford. “It’s a best guess because of poor recordkeeping.”Huppe named GC Strategies as a longtime federal contractor. Between 2011 and 2024, departments reported there had been 118 contracts with it totalling $107.7 million.“Providing accurate and open information about our contracts is essential to safeguarding the trust Canadians put in their institutions,” he said. When it comes to sweetheart contracting, Bloc Quebecois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagne (Terrebonne, QC) said ArriveCan “is probably the tip of the iceberg.” “There are obviously internal controls that were not put in place and were not upheld,” she said.Since these policies were not followed, Sinclair-Desgagne asked if he had washed his hands of it. However, he said the Comptroller General did its job. She said who ensures rules are followed. In the Comptroller General, he said it has a decentralized accountablity model. Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie (Calgary-Midnapore, AB) questioned if the Treasury Board was involved in reviewing contracts for ArriveCan. Huppe confirmed the Treasury Board was not. To Canadians who might be concerned, she requested he say if they received value for money with ArriveCan. “It was very difficult to understand exactly the value for money,” he said. GC Strategies had its security status suspended on Wednesday amid the ongoing investigation into ArriveCan. READ MORE: GC Strategies’ security status suspended in wake of ArriveCan investigationThe security status was a key requirement when bidding on most federal contracts, which it did not have to do for its sweetheart contract with the government. Public Services and Procurement Canada announced the suspension “precludes GC Strategies Inc. from participating in all federal procurements with security requirements.”
