The shameless waste of public funds with ArriveCAN Is it just the tip of the iceberg? Is the federal public service on the verge of collapse?
The report tabled Monday by the Auditor General (AG) of Canada leaves as many nagging questions as it offers devastating answers on this fiasco which cost taxpayers the astronomical sum of 60 million… or 750 times more than the budget of 80 000 $ initially planned1.
We are used to cost overruns in public projects, but this one is beyond comprehension.
However, the revelations which followed on Wednesday in The Press suggest an even broader problem, because the company GC Strategies, which is at the center of the scandal, has received no fewer than 140 contracts totaling $258 million from several federal departments and agencies since 20152.
It’s time to shed light on the consulting industry that has grown up around Ottawa.
These intermediaries act as relays between ministries and private suppliers, charging a commission of 15 to 30%, without having done anything themselves. Or so little. It’s as if they had established a toll booth where all taxpayers pay the price.
With the drift ofArriveCANwe come to wonder if there is a captain on board, in Ottawa.
Obviously, we have to put ourselves in context. There was an urgent need to act: Ottawa needed an application to collect traveler information and support quarantine rules during the pandemic.
But that doesn’t excuse the government’s blatant lack of diligence.
Why award a contract without a call for tenders, and without any justification, when other suppliers could have provided the services? Who in the government took the initiative to call on GC Strategies? And why them? It is incredible that this firm which has only two employees received 19 million with ArriveCANessentially to redistribute the work to others.
Why did you approve timesheets without any details, which amounts to writing a blank check to suppliers? Such actions open the door wide to abuse.
How come no one sounded the alarm? Are there no safeguards in government? A clue: the AG’s report reveals that the governance of the project fell between two stools, while the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) both believed that the other would take care of it. Bravo for the coordination.
But beyond this gross incompetence, has there been any wrongdoing within the public service? If so, at what level ?
The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, who always has the gift of inventing puns to ridicule the government, was quick to transform ArriveCAN in “ArriveScam”, or ArriveArnaque.
Obviously, it smacks of a conflict of interest when civil servants were paid for at the restaurant by suppliers. But the AG does not speak of corruption in its report, preferring to leave it to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to investigate the conduct of certain CBSA employees.
But those responsible will also have to answer for their lax management. In Montreal, we knocked out Dominique Ollivier for less than that. The number two in the City paid dearly for her oyster supper.
At a time when Canadians are scraping by, the Trudeau government has no choice but to lead by example and take all necessary measures to ensure effective management of state finances.
In light of the new revelations, it would be healthy to broaden the mandate of the VG so that it quickly sheds light on all of the contracts awarded to GC Strategies. As a watchdog, it is its role to ensure that the government does not throw taxpayers’ money down the drain.
But an even broader review is needed to address the immense IT challenges facing Canada. We have dragged our feet over the past few decades, leaving 65% of our systems in poor health3. Huge investments are needed. The payment of benefits to citizens is at stake: pensions, employment insurance, passports, etc.
You can imagine the IT nightmare if Ottawa also gave in to the demand of the New Democratic Party and launched a national drug insurance program! With the labor shortage, we must avoid launching new federal programs and focus on IT modernization of current services.
If we were serious, we would launch a real public commission of inquiry to learn lessons from the drift ofArriveCAN and avoid a much more costly shipwreck.
1. Consult the report of the Auditor General of Canada
2. Read our report “258 million for the company behind ArriveCAN »
Consult a text from the Institute for Research in Public Policy on the digital transition of Ottawa