Parliamentary Committee Will Issue Subpoenas For Reluctant ArriveCan Witnesses, Chair Says

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

Following the auditor general’s report on mismanagement of the ArriveCan application, the chair of the Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) warned that MPs will issue subpoenas compelling committee testimony from reluctant ArriveCan witnesses.

“We will be ordering past and present ministers of public safety, public works, and Treasury Board to answer for ArriveCan mismanagement and waste,” Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said in the House of Commons on Feb. 12.

“GC Strategies, which we have now learned was paid $20 million, will be issued a summons ordering its appearance. The committee will call every witness and compel every document to hold the government to account on ArriveCan.”

The auditor general’s report, released on Feb. 12, estimated that GC Strategies Incorporated, a two-person IT consulting firm, received $19.1 million in contracts related to ArriveCan’s development. The company either received work without bidding or “was involved in setting the requirements of a competitive contract” only it could win, the report said.

Auditor General Karen Hogan found several government agencies did not follow proper management and contracting practices when developing the app, which was used to check the COVID-19 vaccination status of travellers crossing the border into Canada.

“Overall, this audit shows a glaring disregard for basic management and contracting practices throughout ArriveCan’s development and implementation,” Ms. Hogan told MPs on Feb. 12.

GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth testified before OGGO on Nov. 11, 2023, but company partners have since declined to volunteer for new committee questioning. Mr. McCauley said the government operations committee will take the matter up on Feb. 14, 2024.

Committee subpoenas have the weight of court orders enforceable by arrest, but the measure is rarely invoked. The last jailing was in 1913 for a Montréal contractor, who was held at Ottawa’s Carleton County Jail for 90 days for refusing to testify on his role in a kickback scheme, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters on Feb. 12 that the irregularities around ArriveCan were regrettable.

“We recognize with hindsight things should have clearly been done differently,” said Mr. LeBlanc. The minister added that the government accepted that taxpayers’ money needed to be treated with “the utmost respect,” and said they would not defend the contracting process.

“Where there is believed to be wrongdoing, the Border Services Agency will obviously refer these matters to the appropriate authorities,” said LeBlanc.

A confidential CBSA report that resulted in suspensions of two former executives raised allegations of “fraud and bribery” and indicated that thousands of important documents had been destroyed, according to a summary obtained by Conservative MP Larry Brock.

Investigators to date, including the auditor general and procurement ombudsman, have documented numerous ArriveCan irregularities including the absence of records explaining how favoured contractors were selected and why.

“Next time we will have to do better,” Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Feb. 12.