Federal officials in Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s department justified an internal audit that found multiple contracting breaches by claiming “general compliance,” per Blacklock’s Reporter. “We generally do comply,” Chief Financial Officer Shirley Carruthers testified at the Commons Government Operations Committee Wednesday. A report on the investigation into the hiring of consultants in the Joly’s foreign affairs department disclosed April 25 uncovered routine irregularities at a rate of 26% between 2018 and 2023. The department earlier acknowledged the investigation was launched “due to recent media attention” and public pushback over billions spent on federal consultants across all government departments, particularly the failed pandemic-era ArriveCan app, which is still under investigation. The Budget Office estimates government-wide spending on consultants costs taxpayers $21.6 billion annually. The foreign affairs department was “big and complex,” Carruthers told MPs.“The audit did find we generally do comply. We fully recognize there are areas where we can do better. We are committed to the integrity of contracting.” The department in the past five years hired consultants more than 8,000 times at a $567 million cost. The April 25 audit found of 72 contracts investigated at random a total 19, 26%. did not comply with the Financial Administration Act.Irregularities included vanished paperwork, unsigned agreements, self-dealing and a practice called contract splitting where a large order with a favoured supplier was divvied up into smaller invoices to bypass competitive bidding requirements. Federal law requires that service contracts over $40,000 must be put to open bidding to ensure best value for taxpayers.The department’s Chief Audit Executive Natalie Lalonde denied systemic wrongdoing. “I think there were errors. There were issues,” said Lalonde.“What is the acceptable rate of contracting failure in government departments?” asked Conservative MP Kelly Block “An acceptable rate of contract failure obviously would be zero percent,” replied Lalonde.“So there have been no other rates above zero percent that would be identified as an acceptable rate of failure?” asked Block. “I wouldn’t consider that as being a failure,” replied Lalonde.“I’ll make it a little easier; what is the expected rate of failure?” asked Block. “I am sorry, I can’t answer that question,” replied Lalonde.Conservative MP Larry Brock expressed astonishment at the 26% failure rate from “a sample of under 100 contracts with over 8,000 contracts” over the five-year period. “The culture of abuse and mismanagement in the Justin Trudeau government is alive and well,” said Brock.“It wasn’t an issue of you taking proactive measures within your own department. Literally the public demanded more transparency and accountability.”“You were literally caught with your hand in the cookie jar, that the jig was up, that public opinion was so strong with regards to failed, corrupt practices exhibited by a number of departments in terms of outside contracting.”
Federal officials in Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s department justified an internal audit that found multiple contracting breaches by claiming “general compliance,” per Blacklock’s Reporter. “We generally do comply,” Chief Financial Officer Shirley Carruthers testified at the Commons Government Operations Committee Wednesday. A report on the investigation into the hiring of consultants in the Joly’s foreign affairs department disclosed April 25 uncovered routine irregularities at a rate of 26% between 2018 and 2023. The department earlier acknowledged the investigation was launched “due to recent media attention” and public pushback over billions spent on federal consultants across all government departments, particularly the failed pandemic-era ArriveCan app, which is still under investigation. The Budget Office estimates government-wide spending on consultants costs taxpayers $21.6 billion annually. The foreign affairs department was “big and complex,” Carruthers told MPs.“The audit did find we generally do comply. We fully recognize there are areas where we can do better. We are committed to the integrity of contracting.” The department in the past five years hired consultants more than 8,000 times at a $567 million cost. The April 25 audit found of 72 contracts investigated at random a total 19, 26%. did not comply with the Financial Administration Act.Irregularities included vanished paperwork, unsigned agreements, self-dealing and a practice called contract splitting where a large order with a favoured supplier was divvied up into smaller invoices to bypass competitive bidding requirements. Federal law requires that service contracts over $40,000 must be put to open bidding to ensure best value for taxpayers.The department’s Chief Audit Executive Natalie Lalonde denied systemic wrongdoing. “I think there were errors. There were issues,” said Lalonde.“What is the acceptable rate of contracting failure in government departments?” asked Conservative MP Kelly Block “An acceptable rate of contract failure obviously would be zero percent,” replied Lalonde.“So there have been no other rates above zero percent that would be identified as an acceptable rate of failure?” asked Block. “I wouldn’t consider that as being a failure,” replied Lalonde.“I’ll make it a little easier; what is the expected rate of failure?” asked Block. “I am sorry, I can’t answer that question,” replied Lalonde.Conservative MP Larry Brock expressed astonishment at the 26% failure rate from “a sample of under 100 contracts with over 8,000 contracts” over the five-year period. “The culture of abuse and mismanagement in the Justin Trudeau government is alive and well,” said Brock.“It wasn’t an issue of you taking proactive measures within your own department. Literally the public demanded more transparency and accountability.”“You were literally caught with your hand in the cookie jar, that the jig was up, that public opinion was so strong with regards to failed, corrupt practices exhibited by a number of departments in terms of outside contracting.”
