(Ottawa) Trudeau government ministers expressed concerns after learning that one of the companies awarded contracts to design the application ArriveCAN opened bank accounts in jurisdictions recognized as tax havens.
The Press revealed Tuesday that Dalian Enterprises Inc., which was awarded contracts for ArriveCAN and also for other federal projects, has opened since 2011 two companies in tax havens which are recognized by experts to favor the camouflage of fund transfers and tax evasion.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has already confirmed that it has launched a criminal investigation following allegations from a Montreal firm specializing in artificial intelligence, which denounced irregularities in an IT contract awarded to Dalian, then subcontracted to other actors. She recently confirmed this again in a letter addressed to the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre.
THE Globe and Mail recently calculated that this company received $95.5 million from Ottawa, just for the period from 2016 to 2023.
“It’s worrying,” reacted the Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne. This is why we have to get to the bottom of things. »
People must also be accountable for their actions, people are responsible. Listen, the investigation will determine it, but if people were aware, if they were aware of the wrongdoing, there must be consequences.
the Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne
The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, referred the question to his colleague at National Revenue, Marie-Claude Bibeau. “It’s a question that is important in the sense that it must be part of the conversations and actions of the Canadian government,” he replied.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos
“Every time we hear that a company is trying to get rid of its tax obligations, it is certainly shocking and I can assure you that we have teams who work very hard to identify and do what is necessary to bring the money home,” said Minister Bibeau, taking care to specify that she cannot comment on a particular case.
Information obtained by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as part of an investigation is confidential. They become public only when the CRA has to go to court or when, in the event of a penalty, all appeal measures have been exhausted. The information is then found on the ARC website.
“It looks like they didn’t even check that they were giving public money to a company that will later put it aside and punish Quebec and Canadian taxpayers by not paying their share of the money. tax here, lamented the deputy leader of the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice. I find this very irresponsible on the part of the government, but it shows how lax they have been on the issue of tax havens for years. »
“Disposing of accounts in tax havens is not in itself illegal,” recalled the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet. But it would be very, very appropriate for the government to systematically refuse any public contract with any company that has money in tax havens. »
The Conservatives tabled a motion in the House to obtain a detailed report of the costs linked to ArriveCAN, including the amounts paid to subcontractors and to recover the amounts paid to contractors who did not work on the development of this application.
The list of indigenous businesses revised
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu was not informed of the accounts of Dalian Enterprises Inc. in tax havens when The Press asked her before the Cabinet meeting Thursday morning.
” I think that [les personnes à l’origine de] contract fraud needs to be held accountable if that’s what it is,” she said.
The Press revealed on Saturday that his ministry recently launched an audit of Dalian Enterprises Inc. at the request of the Department of Public Services and Procurement (PSPC). The two-employee company has won numerous federal government contracts in recent years, notably for ArriveCAN, thanks to its recognized status as an indigenous company.
Minister Hajdu indicated that her ministry was reviewing the list of companies that have obtained this status and that it could be transferred to indigenous partners. “It’s actually really complicated because it’s sometimes difficult to determine who is indigenous,” she explained.
“There are sometimes people on the list that other Indigenous people may challenge,” she added. So we’re trying to figure out how to go about achieving the goal of helping departments meet the procurement target. »
The president and founder of Dalian Enterprises Inc., David Yeo, is a member of the Alderville First Nation, Ontario and therefore meets one of the criteria issued by Indigenous Services Canada.
In 2021, the Trudeau government has set itself the objective of annually granting at least 5% of the total value of all federal public contracts to Indigenous businesses, the equivalent of the proportion of the Indigenous population in the country. This represents approximately 1 billion per year.
This “mandatory minimum of 5% in procurement” target is implemented in three phases. All organizations must meet or exceed this target by March 31, 2025.
With the collaboration of Vincent Larouche, The Press