‘Astounding’: MPs Express Disbelief as ArriveCan Contractor Claims Ignorance During Questioning

A smartphone set to the opening screen of the ArriveCan app is seen in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Giordano Ciampini

MPs were looking for answers from a key ArriveCan contractor but were left expressing disbelief at his apparent inability to provide basic information about his company and its contracts with the federal government.

“How on earth could you have prepared any less for this hearing?” Conservative MP Larry Brock asked GC Strategies co-owner and vice-president Darren Anthony.

Mr. Anthony testified before the House of Commons government operations committee (OGGO) on March 14 as it continues its study of the ArriveCan application, which previously served as a border measure to manage COVID-19 quarantine.

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) estimated the cost of ArriveCan to be $59.5 million in its review of the contracts, while noting poor accounting practices make it hard to determine the cost accurately. The office also said there was little value compared to costs.

The auditor general found that GC Strategies had helped frame the requirements for a competitive federal contract it eventually won as the sole bidder.

GC Strategies co-owner Kristian Firth also admitted to sending sub-contractors’ boosted resumés to the government to obtain work, something he qualified as a “mistake” in previous committee testimony.

Mr. Anthony defended Mr. Firth’s integrity during the March 14 hearing, but repeatedly distanced himself from Mr. Firth’s pandemic contracts, claiming to have no knowledge of them. He said he was only responsible for processing security clearances for sub-contractors on the ArriveCan file and that he handles contracts with separate departments.

The auditor general found issues with regard to contractor clearances, reporting that resources under GC Strategies responsible for conducting a cyber security assessment of the ArriveCan application did not have proper security clearances.

“All of the resources that we provided under those contracts had security clearance,” Mr. Anthony told MPs regarding the allegations.

To dig into the matter, the committee passed a motion asking for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to conduct a review on whether this led to privacy breaches.

Contracts related to ArriveCan are currently under several probes, including by the RCMP.

Fiduciary Responsibility

As GC Strategies is a two-man IT firm with the profits of the company being split between Mr. Anthony and Mr. Firth, MPs expressed surprise at how little Mr. Anthony claimed to know about the ArriveCan file.

“You don’t have any concrete answer to clearly relevant questions,” said Mr. Brock.

NDP MP Taylor Bachrach asked Mr. Anthony whether he had any fiduciary responsibility as a co-owner of the company.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” said Mr. Anthony.

“You’re a half owner of a company that does millions of dollars in government contracts and you don’t know what your fiduciary responsibility is to the corporate entity?” said Mr. Bachrach. “I find that somewhat astounding.”

Like Mr. Firth the day prior, Mr. Anthony disputed the findings in the auditor general’s report, but he told the committee he had never read it. Many MPs expressed disbelief about the claim.

Tory MP Garnett Genuis remarked that GC Strategies has faced “grievous consequences” because of the auditor general’s report and that Mr. Anthony had been asked to testify “in large part” because of its findings.

GC Strategies had been suspended by the procurement department last fall and had its security status revoked last week. As a result, the company has no further federal contracts. Mr. Anthony also said the private sector work had “dwindled to nothing,” leaving an “irreparable impact” on him and his family.

“The career I spent 20 years building has been ruined,” he said.

Mr. Genuis pointed out the auditor general report is “feeding into an RCMP investigation that could result in criminal charges against your long-term business partner and against you.”

“This report is merely 36 pages, and at no point did you think, ’maybe I should read this thing?'” he asked.

“No, I did not,” replied Mr. Anthony, saying his doctor had recommended he take a leave from work to lower his stress.

Mr. Anthony was later asked by Mr. Genuis whether he would read the report after the meeting. He said he wouldn’t as the “damage has already been done for me.”

Under Arrest Threat

Mr. Anthony and Mr. Firth were under threat of arrest by the House sergeant-at-arms to appear at committee, having not responded to previous summons.

Mr. Firth was questioned by MPs the day prior for over three hours. He repeatedly resisted divulging the name of the public servant who collaborated with GC Strategies to establish the criteria for a pandemic contract valued at $25 million. He told MPs he could not comment given the ongoing RCMP investigation.

The RCMP began looking into GC Strategies and other firms Coradix and Dalian last fall surrounding misconduct allegations in relation to contracts not directly involving the development of ArriveCan. The police force recently expanded its probe to cover ArriveCan contracts.

The probe expansion follows the auditor general’s finding that GC Strategies had been involved in developing the requirements for the $25 million contract with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

In May 2022, CBSA replaced three non-competitive contracts held by GC Strategies with a competitive one. The auditor general noted the requirements for eligibility criteria were “extremely narrow, which likely prevented competition.”

Mr. Firth asserted at the committee that the criteria he helped establish would’ve allowed 40 other firms to compete, but none did.

Facing refusals from Mr. Firth to disclose information related to the contract, MPs voted unanimously to consider whether Mr. Firth was in contempt of Parliament.

Mr. Firth stonewalled on the contract, but provided information on how his company operates as an intermediary between the federal government and IT contractors. GC Strategies takes a commission of 15 to 30 percent.

In the context of ArriveCan, Mr. Firth said his company made $2.5 million after expenses, taxes, and paying sub-contractors. The auditor general said in its report that GC Strategies had obtained $19.1 million for ArriveCan work. Mr. Firth specified that $11 million was directly related to ArriveCan, whereas the rest of the money was part of larger pandemic contracts.

The Comptroller General of Canada, Roch Huppé, told the House public accounts committee on March 6 that GC Strategies obtained 118 contracts valued at $107.7 million since 2011.