(OTTAWA) Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek said Monday that neither she nor her staff have had contact with McKinsey. The consulting firm is not listed in Canada’s lobbyists registry.
“Absolutely not, the minister’s office is in no way involved in the awarding of these contracts,” she replied during her testimony before the parliamentary committee. She has been asked the question several times by skeptical MPs.
Elected officials are trying to shed light on the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts awarded to the consulting firm since the election of Justin Trudeau’s government in 2015. The amount for 24 contracts awarded by the Ministry of Public Services and Procurement amounts to 104.6 million and does not include those granted by other departments.
McKinsey’s absence from the register of lobbyists in Canada, but also in Quebec and Ontario, was first reported by Radio-Canada.
The Conservatives again quoted an email Monday sent by Kevin d’Entremont, one of McKinsey’s partners, to an official at that department on March 26, 2020 to suggest an avenues meeting to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. .
Deputy Minister Paul Thompson, who accompanied Mr.me Jaczek was unable to say whether such a meeting had taken place. He added, however, that it was probably part of the government’s call to action at the start of the pandemic issued to all kinds of businesses.
The minister and her deputy minister pointed out that clear rules govern the use of consulting firms. They explained that consulting firms are hired, for example, to do comparative studies with other countries or when a project of limited duration requires more employees. In such a case, the government uses consultants because it would not be reasonable to hire full-time civil servants, argued Ms.me Jaczek.
Earlier today, the Conservatives demanded that the Auditor General investigate all contracts awarded to McKinsey by departments, agencies or crown corporations to find out if taxpayers got their money’s worth.
Minister Jaczek was appointed head of the Department of Public Services and Supply at the end of August to replace Filomena Tassi who wanted to spend more time with her family. Mme Tassi took on the role that Mme Jaczek and is now minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.