(Ottawa) Darren Anthony, one of two GC Strategies partners, admitted not having read the Auditor General’s report on cost overruns ofArriveCAN even if he disputes his figures. The firm is at the heart of the financial fiasco surrounding the application deployed during the pandemic. Karen Hogan estimated GC Strategies had secured $19.1 million in contracts, a third of the money spent.
Mr. Anthony’s responses sowed disbelief and even sparked laughter among MPs on the government operations committee on Thursday. This is the first time that he answered questions from elected officials even though he had already been summoned two other times since 2022. He had always let his associate, Kristian Firth, answer the questions.
He also on Thursday relied on the testimony given the day before by Mr. Firth and minimized his role within the company by saying that he was not responsible for the contracts concluded with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) even if it shares half of the profits. The two associates were forced to appear in court without which the sergeant-at-arms was instructed to arrest them.
Mr. Anthony said he played the role of chief security officer for GC Strategies, meaning he was responsible for documentation so his contractors could obtain the security clearance required by the federal government.
“I don’t know,” he said numerous times throughout his testimony. He often struggled to answer questions from elected officials indicating that he did not have the answers. For example, he was unable to indicate how many hours of work he worked to obtain subcontractor safety clearances for ArriveCAN.
His partner had indicated the day before that GC Strategies had obtained a commission of 2.5 million in order to recruit teams of developers to develop the application ArriveCAN. Mr. Firth maintained that these contracts totaled 9 million, contrary to the 19 million estimated by the Auditor General.
Further details will follow