A federal pandemic relief program managed by a Brazilian contractor cost taxpayers as much as $750 per hour in billed fees, according to a scathing audit presented to the Commons public accounts committee Monday. Blacklock's Reporter says Auditor General Karen Hogan criticized Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s department for poor oversight and "significant weaknesses" in managing the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), a program she said wasted billions of dollars.“The program was not managed with due regard for value for money,” Hogan testified. “This program could have been delivered for less money.”CEBA, introduced in 2020, offered $60,000 interest-free loans to small businesses, with one-third forgiven upon repayment. Mismanagement of the program, however, led to $3.5 billion in loans being paid to ineligible applicants. Export Development Canada (EDC), a Crown corporation, was tasked with running the program despite warning it lacked the capacity to do so. EDC handed off operations to sole-sourced contractor Accenture PLC, at a cost of $209 million.Auditors revealed systemic failures in monitoring Accenture’s invoices. Rates ranged from $60 to over $750 per hour, with a call center initially budgeted at $2.78 million ultimately costing $23.2 million. Alarmingly, agents were found to have billed for an average of 14 hours per day, despite the call center being open only nine hours.“Our analysis identified some discrepancies in the hours charged,” the report noted. “Export Development Canada did not identify these discrepancies at the time of payment.”Conservative MPs sharply criticized the program’s management. MP Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn) called the audit “another sad example of Liberal waste,” accusing contractors of “taking Canadians to the cleaners.”MP Kyle Seeback (Dufferin-Caledon, Ont.) highlighted that much of the contracted work was performed in Brazil. “Canadians should be shocked,” said Seeback. “Most of the work they did was done in Brazil. It didn’t even benefit Canadians.”MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West) condemned the arrangement as a no-risk boon for Accenture. “I would expect the public service not to give a contract to Accenture and tell them, ‘You can take taxpayers’ money and hire yourself and set your own prices,’” McCauley said.Hogan also criticized the lack of accountability. “I would have expected better monitoring,” she said, noting that EDC had flagged its limitations to the Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs.Freeland defended the program in a statement, citing the challenges of implementing it during a global pandemic. “This report fails to properly acknowledge the program was designed and delivered during a global pandemic,” she wrote, without addressing specific findings.MP Brad Vis (Mission-Matsqui, B.C.) questioned why the government persisted with Accenture despite clear red flags. “How do we stop this from happening again?” Vis asked. Hogan emphasized the need for stronger oversight and monitoring in future programs.
