Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Monday that the contracting for the controversial ArriveCAN app was "highly illogical and inefficient.".He said Canada's top public servant has been asked to look into the government's procurement process..Recent reporting by The Globe and Mail that found the Ottawa IT firm GCstrategies, which was hired to build ArriveCan for $44 million, subcontracted the work to six other companies. .During a press conference in Toronto, Trudeau was asked why the government didn't just contract directly with the companies that built the app.."That's the exact question I just asked of the public service," Trudeau (Papineau, QC) responded. "I have made sure that the clerk of the privy council is looking into procurement practices to ensure we're getting value for our money and doing things in a smart and logical way.".The prime minister said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, "speed was of the essence." But he said going forward, there are principles the government must ensure are sound..Documents tabled by the House of Commons government operations and estimates committee showed that GCstrategies paid the other companies, to provide IT resources, with nearly all employees charging daily rates of more than $1,200. Some charged daily rates of as high as $1,500..GCstrategies billed the federal government $9 million over two years to build the app. The total price tag has soared to over $54 million, whoppingly higher than the $80,000 preliminary development estimate..The ArriveCAN app was initially introduced during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to track Canadians' vaccine status. But the app became controversial after it became fraught with glitches. In 2022, a glitch sent over 10,000 fully-vaccinated travellers messages claiming they needed to quarantine..The app also concerned privacy advocates, as it collected the personal data, such as names, telephone numbers, and addresses, of Canadians.
