CBSA President Denies Involvement in Suspending Former Employees Over ArriveCAN Allegations

A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) patch is seen on a CBSA officer’s uniform in Calgary, Alberta, on Aug. 1, 2019. Jeff Mcintosh/The Canadian Press

The president of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) denied being involved in the disciplinary action against two former employees who were recently suspended without pay over allegations of misconduct related to the ArriveCan app.

“I did not take that action, and it’s not for me to talk about. Their deputy heads took that action,” said CBSA President Erin O’Gorman during a House of Commons Committee on Government Operations (OGGO) meeting on Jan. 18.

The committee is currently investigating how the companies GC Strategies, Dalian, and Coradix received millions in taxpayer dollars to develop the ArriveCAN app, which was used by Ottawa to track the COVID-19 vaccination status of travellers entering Canada. Critics have claimed the app could have been developed for a fraction of its $54 million cost.

The CBSA, which was responsible for the ArriveCan app, has launched an internal investigation into the matter. The RCMP is also conducting its own investigation into the three companies.

Earlier in the week, Health Canada assistant deputy minister Cameron MacDonald and a director-general at the Canada Revenue Agency, Antonio Utano—both of whom formerly worked at the CBSA—were suspended without pay. In a letter to OGGO, Mr. MacDonald wrote that their suspensions were a “campaign of intimidation” meant to muzzle them, and that the CBSA’s internal investigation was being conducted in a “remarkably unusual manner.”

“To this day, and despite several attempts, Mr. Utano and I have not been presented with anything other than bald accusations of wrongdoing,” Mr. MacDonald said in the Jan. 10 letter obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Ms. O'Gorman told the committee that shortly after receiving the “preliminary statement of facts” regarding Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano on Dec. 19, 2023, she shared them with the deputy heads, who ultimately made the decision to suspend them. She also said the decision to stop paying for the two men’s legal fees following their suspensions was “consistent with the Treasury Board policy.”

‘Strong Appearance of Retaliation’

Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano previously testified before OGGO on Nov. 7, 2023, where they made several accusations toward senior CBSA members and then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino. Mr. MacDonald said former CBSA vice-president Minh Doan, now the chief technology officer for the government of Canada, had lied when saying he didn’t know who selected GC Strategies to build the ArriveCan app.

Mr. MacDonald also accused Mr. Doan of threatening to blame him and Mr. Utano for the decision to hire GC Strategies to build the ArriveCAN app during a phone call on Oct. 28, 2022, and said Mr. Mendicino was upset with the reports about the cost of ArriveCAN and ”wanted someone’s head on a plate.”

Mr. Genuis said the timing of Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano’s testimony before OGGO on Nov. 7, and their being informed of the investigation against them on Nov. 27, made it appear that CBSA was retaliating against them. “You’re telling us that ... that’s pure coincidence. Is that what you’re telling us?” Mr. Genuis asked at the Jan. 18 meeting.

“Is the suggestion that I’m interfering in the investigation? Because there is no information to support that,” Ms. O‘Gorman responded. Mr. Genuis then asked that the committee order Ms. O’Gorman to produce to the committee the preliminary statement of fact she provided to the deputy heads.

Mr. Genuis later said he was concerned that the “strong appearance of retaliation” toward Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Utano would “cast a chill” on OGGO’s ability to hear from public servants. “We want to be able to have public servants come before the committee and simply tell us what they’re hearing. And I think now that is going to be constrained as a result of the fact that senior public servants have retaliated against those that have given direct and frank testimony,” he said.