Tories Want Auditor General to Launch Probe Into Company Behind ArriveCan

Conservative MP Michael Barrett rises during Question Period in Ottawa on Dec. 12, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative MPs say they will ask the auditor general to launch a probe into the company that was contracted to develop the ArriveCan app, after media reported it received $258 million in government contracts over the past decade.

“It’s beyond reason that a two-person company operating out of a suburban basement could be doing $250 million in business with the federal government,” Tory MP Michael Barrett told reporters on Feb. 14.

La Presse had reported earlier that day that GC Strategies has scored 140 contracts worth nearly $258 million since 2015. It also says 46 of those contracts were awarded without competition.

The company is run out of a residence outside Ottawa and reportedly has only two to four employees.

The Epoch Times was not able to immediately verify the figures reported by La Presse.

An order paper question filed by Mr. Barrett in November had requested data on all federal contracts with GC Strategies since 2015. The amount obtained by adding contract information from all reporting departments is $96,293,185.27.

Public Service and Procurement Canada (PSPC) reported disbursing $59,879,553 on behalf of other departments for contracts appearing to relate to the ArriveCan development. This figure is close to the $59.5 million raised by Auditor General (AG) Karen Hogan in her ArriveCan report tabled on Feb. 12.

The total cost could be higher, with Ms. Hogan saying there are paper trails missing. The auditor general said she had never seen such a level of mismanagement.

“This would probably be the first example that I’ve seen where there is such a glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules and controls,” she told the House of Commons public accounts committee while presenting her report on Feb. 12.

Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Feb. 14 that contracts with GC Strategies have been suspended since November, around the time the AG started her probe, and that this applies to the Canada Border Services Agency.

The Epoch Times reached out to PSPC on the matter and to confirm the figure reported by La Presse, but didn’t immediately hear back. GC Strategies also didn’t respond by publication time.

Based on the Jan. 29 government response to Mr. Barrett’s November inquiry, some departments still have contracts opened with GC Strategies. For example, Natural Resources Canada has a $778,531.00 contract for “management consulting” marked as “ongoing.”

Broaden the Probe

ArriveCan, introduced in April 2020, was initially expected to cost around $80,000 to develop. The system was made mandatory for incoming travellers to Canada to provide the government their vaccination status and quarantine plans.

In addition to controversy surrounding the estimated $59 million it cost to develop the app, it had also been criticized over other issues, such as a glitch sending vaccinated individuals into quarantine, or the challenges it created for travellers less familiar with technology.

The application is still in use, with the Canada Border Services Agency saying it can speed up traveller processing, but it became optional in the fall of 2022.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has called it a “corrupt app” that “doesn’t work, that we didn’t need, and that went 750 times over budget.”

Mr. Poilievre wrote a letter to the RCMP on Feb. 13 asking it to expand its current criminal investigation into the contracting practices of some businesses involved in the ArriveCan development.