MPs on the Commons Government Operations committee on Tuesday could not figure out who gave a sweetheart contract to a consultant for the ArriveCan app.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, MPs asked 32 times, but no one from the Canada Border Services Agency, which gave the contract, admitted to contacting the company.“Nobody wants to take responsibility,” said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, AB).“While everything is broken, nobody ever takes responsibility.”MPs are looking into whistleblowers complaints who reported the $8.9 million contract for the ArriveCan app. This contract was given directly to GC Strategies, a small company in Woodlawn, ON, run by two people from a house.Evidence revealed that GC Strategies made an undisclosed commission of up to 30% or $2.7 million and gave all the work to subcontractors.When asked 32 times about who hired GC Strategies, Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos did not answer.“Who is responsible for the decision?” asked Genuis. “Well, I can provide information on what ArriveCan did,” replied Duclos.“No, that’s not what the question is, Minister,” said Genuis. “The question is who’s responsible for the decision?”“I’ve asked you a pretty basic question about who the individuals responsible for the decision are,” said Genuis. “You haven’t answered. You haven’t answered about who is responsible or whether you’ve asked who is responsible. Your title is Minister of Public Services and Procurement and you’re telling us you’re not responsible for procurement and you don’t know who is. I am left wondering, what is it that you do?”Conservative MP Larry Brock (Brantford-Brant, ON) expressed amazement over the contract to GC Strategies, “a two-person company that works out of their basement who did no IT work whatsoever but simply did a Google search and found IT professionals,” he said.“Canadians want a straight answer from this government,” said Brock. “We are not getting it from senior bureaucrats. We are not getting it from any member of the Canada Border Services Agency.”“Who was responsible?” asked Brock. “We are there to help,” replied Duclos. “We are there to provide information.”“Will you do that, sir, yes or no?” asked Brock. “Let me be a bit more positive,” replied Duclos.Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie (Calgary Midnapore, AB) said that the committee had not learned much after many weeks of looking into the ArriveCan app's contracts. This app, used during COVID-19 for people travelling across borders to show they were vaccinated, cost $54 million.“We have had senior public officials lie to this committee and lie to Canadians,” said Kusie. “That is completely unacceptable.”
