ArriveCan executives on Wednesday abruptly announced they’d discovered thousands of “deleted” emails involving business with contractors now under RCMP investigation, per Blacklock’s Reporter. It followed protests from MPs after the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) claimed evidence was mysteriously destroyed.“We trust this clarifies any potential misinterpretation,” CBSA President Erin O’Gorman wrote the Commons Government Operations Committee. The agency found 1,806 pages of ArriveCan emails it provided to the committee, she said.MPs last June 5 ordered the CBSA to produce the records. O’Gorman replied October 18 the evidence was destroyed. “There were no backup files accessible following the account deletion,” she wrote.All emails concerned Minh Doan, CBSA former chief information officer. Doan was responsible for awarding lucrative sole-sourced contracts to suppliers now under police investigation for fraudulent billing.The sudden discovery of “deleted” emails following a committee hearing Tuesday at which MPs expressed outrage over the destruction of evidence. “You can commit wrongdoing in your position as a public servant in Canada, leave your position, and the trail behind you is deleted?” said Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie..‘SHADY BUSINESS’: Committee hears more ArriveCan records destroyed .Emails are believed to document dealings with GC Strategies Inc., a two-man consulting firm operating from a private home in Woodlawn, ON. RCMP raided the home on April 16.Evidence showed GC Strategies billed at the equivalent of $2,600 an hour for consulting work on the $59.5 million ArriveCan program. The company bought meals and drinks for CBSA managers, the Commons Public Accounts Committee was told.“We invoiced monthly,” Kristian Firth, managing partner at GC Strategies, told MPs April 17.“At any time we could have been stopped.”Evidence uncovered to date indicated GC Strategies was a preferred supplier. The firm received a total 118 federal contracts from various departments. Payments totaled $107.7 million. The company typically subcontracted work after deducting commissions worth up to 30%.“Mr. Firth has made connections and met with public servants for over a decade, wining and dining them for contracts,” Kusie said earlier.“Officials became comfortable with the system. Officials allowed Mr. Firth to charge millions because they weren’t willing to follow the rules.”.Federal documents detailing $24B in COVID contracts mysteriously vanish
