Dominic Barton has been appointed chair of Invest in Canada, putting the former McKinsey & Company managing director at the helm of the federal agency two years after government watchdogs raised concerns over hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts awarded to the consulting giant.Blacklock's Reporter says the Prime Minister’s Office announced Barton’s appointment Monday, saying he would help attract billions of dollars in new spending to Canada.“Mr. Barton brings extensive experience,” the PMO said in a statement.The government said Barton is expected to “catalyze billions of dollars in new investment.”His appointment follows scrutiny of the federal government's contracting relationship with McKinsey, where Barton served as global managing director from 2009 to 2018.Auditor General Karen Hogan examined the issue in her 2024 report, Professional Services Contracts, which reviewed 97 contracts awarded to McKinsey. Only 28 were awarded through a competitive process, according to the report.Hogan told the Commons public accounts committee that investigators found problems including failures to demonstrate why contracts were necessary, unclear descriptions of what contractors were supposed to deliver and cases where there was no confirmation that the government received everything it paid for.“I don’t believe this is about more rules, but about following existing rules,” Hogan testified.“There was a frequent disregard for the rules for McKinsey,” she said. “We don’t believe it is reasonable to assume it was limited just to them.”Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic also examined contracts awarded to McKinsey and identified cases where procurement criteria were altered in ways that benefited the consulting company.“To put it plainly, the federal procurement system requires urgent reform,” Jeglic told the Senate national finance committee in 2024.Jeglic said the McKinsey controversy reflected broader problems with federal contracting.“What transpired with McKinsey is a symptom of a broken system and my office has been identifying many of the same issues year after year, report after report,” he said. “Nonetheless I remain hopeful.”Barton has also held several prominent federal appointments.He served as Canada's ambassador to China from 2019 until 2021 and previously chaired former prime minister Justin Trudeau's Advisory Council on Economic Growth..Records have also documented Barton's relationship with former finance minister Chrystia Freeland. Barton met Trudeau at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, in 2016.Barton has previously rejected suggestions that personal financial considerations motivated his government work.“My integrity matters a lot to me,” Barton told the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations in 2020. “It matters a huge amount to me.”“I live my life in the highest integrity,” he added. “I feel I can help the country. I have no interest in making money.”During his time running McKinsey, Barton was a prominent advocate of expanding business ties with China.“I’m a bull on China,” Barton told the Council on Foreign Relations in 2016.“At the risk of drinking the Kool-Aid too much, I think that Xi Jinping is someone who I personally think is looking at his legacy,” he said.
