QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
ArriveCAN Application
February 27, 2024
Senator Gold, I know that doing your job on behalf of this government as a representative is not easy these days, but it is incumbent upon us, as senators, to defend taxpayers, so I have to return to the “ArriveScam” issue.
Right now, we have a company that was given a mandate with a contract that was supposed to be $80,000; it ended up being over $60 million. It might be more according to the Auditor General. That same company — GC Strategies — self-admittedly has only two employees, and self-admittedly has no expertise in the IT industry. We find out recently that $250 million in other contracts has been received by the same firm since 2015 when the Trudeau government came into power. This should be concerning to every single taxpayer in this country.
We cannot get any straight answers from the government. The question I ask is this: Who is ultimately responsible for procurement under this government? Can you give us a name, a department or a minister? Where does the buck stop?
Thank you. All Canadians should be concerned about procurement processes being done in a proper way. That is why, when this issue came to light, a series of steps were taken by the government: both internal investigations which are ongoing; RCMP investigations; a suspension of contracts with that company and others, as I have mentioned; as well as putting into place a series of measures to address and improve our procurement process.
Colleagues, you know as well as I do — and I have said it in this chamber — that the procurement processes within the system of the federal government are shared with various ministries; there is a certain degree of autonomy that is given to different ministries. That is one of the areas that is being reviewed as a result of these particular revelations.
Having this government ask Public Services and Procurement Canada to investigate themselves is laughable. The reason why we’re in this mess is because Public Services and Procurement Canada and your government didn’t do an adequate job. That is why the Auditor General had to come in. That is why the Auditor General is saying they have no answers to this day. Now the file has gone to the RCMP because they think something nefarious is going on. It would be very simple if you told us where the buck stops.
My next question is the following: Will you waive all of these ridiculous fines that tens of thousands of Canadians are facing in court because of this “ArriveScam” app? Waive those fees.
I have answered this question so many times. I will simply say again, Senator Housakos, that it is not the position of the government. I am not in a position to comment on what plans, if any, are being contemplated with regard to fines that were levied during the pandemic.
