Conservative MP Kelly McCauley is calling for Canada’s Auditor General to testify regarding recent allegations revealed by the Globe and Mail that government employees lied in parliament during investigation into suspicious ArriveCan contracts.
A Wednesday article for the Globe and Mail revealed that The RCMP is investigating misconduct surrounding an outsourced IT project at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) — one that ultimately built the widely despised and invasive ArriveCan app that the Liberals have since scrapped.
“It has been revealed that the RCMP are investigating the outsourcing of ArriveCan contracts,” McCauley said in an open letter to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, MP John Williamson.
“In addition, it shows that several witnesses, including Government of Canada employees, lied before a parliamentary investigation on ArriveCan.”
The ArriveCan app, designed for travelers during the pandemic, sparked months of controversy and committee hearings after details of outlandish spending were revealed by The Globe and Mail last year.
McCauley added, “The new allegations also show nefarious contractor practices were used to drive up the cost to taxpayers as well as collusion between consultants and Government of Canada employees.”
Tech CEOs confused
Last year, a Canadian tech CEO said the CBSA wrongly listed his company as receiving money for the failed ArriveCan app.
ThinkOn CEO Craig McLellan told The Globe and Mail his company did not receive a $1.2-million ArriveCan contract, despite being listed as such in information the Canada Border Services Agency tabled in Parliament.
“We have received no money from the CBSA,” McLellan told The Globe.
The CBSA reported that ThinkOn received contract work valued at $1,183,432 for the app. The federal agency said that ThinkOn provided “experimentation of mobile QR code scanning and verification.”
McLellan said his company doesn’t provide QR code scanning services, adding “we’re not even remotely in that space.”
The revelation came while the Trudeau Liberals were under fire for spending $54 million of taxpayers’ money on the glitchy app — a cost the tech industry experts said was far too high.
