Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (a) and (b) of the question, PSPC does not have a specific contracting or accounting code for “staff augmentation contracts” . Further, many of the 635 companies that are qualified for government contracting under the professional services contracting supply arrangement are also qualified for government contracting under other procurement instruments, i.e., supply arrangements. Determining which companies and which contracts were specifically for staff augmentation would therefore require a manual collection and validation of data that is not possible in the time allotted and could lead to the disclosure of incorrect or incomplete information.
Regarding parts (c) to (i), this information is not centrally tracked. Gathering the information would require a manual collection and validation of data that is not possible in the time allotted and could lead to the disclosure of incorrect or incomplete information.
With regard to parts (j) and (k), the Government of Canada has a broad framework in place to prevent, detect and respond to potential wrongdoing in order to safeguard the integrity of the federal procurement system. This approach includes a variety of tools to actively detect wrongdoing and to respond to allegations that the government is being defrauded, either in a specific contract or on a broader scale. In cases where these tools uncover fraudulent or unethical practices, PSPC takes all appropriate steps to safeguard the expenditures of public funds, including referring cases to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.