Ottawa spent no less than $284 million to redesign the Canadian passport.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) revealed the figure in a response to a question on the soap opera from Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner.
“Who are the artists and companies used for the design and images of the new passport, and how much was each paid for their work? » she asked.
The government responded that it was the Canadian Bank Note Company that won the contract launched in a competitive procurement process “to provide this solution.” The company was responsible for “developing the models of the new passport after the Minister of IRCC decided on the theme”.
The parliamentary document also reveals that the project led to cost overruns with a bill 76% higher than expected. Initially, the Treasury Board approved a budget of $161 million.
During question period on Wednesday, the Conservatives denounced an “example of completely crazy spending”.
“It’s wasteful and doesn’t make sense. Can the Prime Minister commit to stopping burning Canadians’ money? » sent Pierre Paul-Hus, the Quebec lieutenant of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
The new Minister of Citizen Services, Terry Beech, has been sent to the front lines. He avoided addressing the funds spent in designing the new passport.
“The backlog of passports is completely eliminated, […] printers are now five times faster, you can check your passport application online and soon you will also be able to renew your passport online,” he said.
Arriving at the morning Liberal caucus meeting, many MPs and ministers emphasized the security features of the new passport, despite being told by journalists that a quarter of a billion was spent on the visual design. .
“The primary objective is to make the passport secure. We know that it is an absolutely essential tool for traveling safely around the world, so that the citizenship we have is recognized no matter where we go on the planet,” declared Jean-Yves Duclos, the new Minister of Public Services and Procurement.
The objective “was to be at the cutting edge of technology,” also supported Justin Trudeau’s political lieutenant for Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez. “That’s it, that’s the objective,” he kept repeating, speeding up his pace after having slowed it down to take the pulse of the questions.
His colleague Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, stopped in front of the cameras, but did not respond to the numerous reporters who tried to find out in the press scrum if it was money well invested.
In her question on the order paper, MP Rempel Garner also tried to find out “who” supported the removal of Canadian figures like Terry Fox and Nellie McClung, the Vimy Ridge monument and the city of Quebec from the design of the document of travel.
The ministry responded that “the surveys were conducted on general themes for the design of the new passport and not on the inclusion of images or representations of specific individuals or events.”
The government unveiled the new passport in May. This includes improved safety features. Passport holders’ personal information will now be laser engraved instead of printed in ink, making the document “more durable and harder to forge and counterfeit.”
The leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, had accused the Liberals of wanting to inject their “woke ideology” into the design of the new passport. The Royal Canadian Legion and the Terry Fox Foundation expressed their disappointment.
Critics accuse the government of stripping the passport of certain historical symbols. These images have been replaced by natural landscapes and elements of the country’s wildlife.