The House of Commons yesterday by a unanimous 320 to 0 vote ordered a special audit of federal contracts to McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm formerly led by a friend of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (Toronto-Rosedale, ON). Liberal MPs endorsed the Conservative motion amid complaints the Opposition was looking for evidence of corruption, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The image they try to portray is one of corruption,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, MB), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader..He said the motion “is another attempt by the Conservative Party to look under all the different rocks to try and find something with which they can attack individuals on the government side, to give a false impression the government is corrupt,” said Lamoureux. “That is the type of thing we have witnessed for eight years.”.The motion asked that the “Auditor General be called upon to conduct as soon as possible a performance and value for money audit of the contracts awarded to McKinsey & Company since January 1, 2011 by any department, agency or Crown corporation.”.“Our motion asks for an audit dating back to 2011 when we were in power,” said Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg-Haute St. Charles, QC). “We have nothing to hide.”.“As long as there is secrecy surrounding all the studies commissioned and paid for by a firm that provides strategic plans and advice on how to direct Canada’s destiny, I think we have a right to know what is going on,” said Paul-Hus..McKinsey & Company in the past five years received $91.8 million in known contracts from federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. Dominic Barton, its former managing director, testified Feb. 1 at the Commons government operations committee that he dined at Minister Freeland’s Toronto home. Barton said he also personally introduced the Prime Minister to executives at a 2016 World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland..“There is much here that arouses suspicion,” Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, QC) told the Commons. “Like it or not, even in good faith there are reasons for mistrust, yet the government’s actions should inspire confidence. In this case, this much doubt adds up to mistrust.”.“What is McKinsey doing?” said Villemure. “This firm cannot know more than everyone else about everything at all times everywhere in the world. That would be astonishing. The only other explanation is that McKinsey is God or the Holy Spirit, pick one. One thing is certain, McKinsey has made itself indispensable.”.New Democrat MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, ON) noted federal spending on consultants of all kinds averages $16.7 billion a year, by Treasury Board estimate. Green said audits of consultants’ work should apply to all companies he called “pigs at the trough” including Deloitte, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Accenture and Ernst & Young..“There has been a lot of talk in the House about who exactly is making decisions at the highest levels,” said Green.
