Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of this committee.
We appeared before you on November 7, 2023, and told the truth. We have co-operated and will continue to co-operate with Parliament and speak truthfully.
I echo everything Mr. MacDonald said in his opening statement but will add the following.
I was the executive director who became the acting director general of the border technologies innovation directorate in May 2021 after Mr. MacDonald left for Health Canada.
We were responsible for the execution and technical delivery of the ArriveCAN application. What we were not responsible for is signing contracts, as we did not have contracting authority. We were not responsible for approving budgets for ArriveCAN. We were not responsible for selecting GC Strategies to work on ArriveCAN. This was Minh Doan's and the president's decision. We were not responsible for, nor did we have the mandate for, many of the flaws the OAG had enumerated in their report.
I have worked in public safety my entire career, for over 20 years, with an unblemished record. I started at the RCMP working on highly sensitive files with top secret security clearance. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a straight shooter. I take offence to what the CBSA has done to us after all we did was speak the truth.
There have been absurd suggestions of bribery. Have a look at this knapsack. Is this bribery? Does this committee really think I can be bribed for a $17 knapsack? Every single person who worked on ArriveCAN was offered this souvenir. This bag was disclosed to the values and ethics office of the CBSA, as well as our vice-president's office.
CBSA is punishing us because we told the truth, because we told this committee they have been misled by senior officials from the CBSA. I question and highlight why the CBSA, Health Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency are working in concert to punish us. To note, both Health Canada and the CRA did not want to participate in the CBSA investigation, yet they supported suspending us anyway.
I'm now questioning even more why the Prime Minister has publicly pronounced guilt and has said there will be consequences, when after more than a year, the RCMP has not investigated. I'm questioning the investigation, as there is clear evidence of bias and the report is tainted and flawed.
The very starting point is problematic. The person who conducted this investigation and crafted the report was himself involved in the original vetting process of Botler AI in late 2020. Who is Botler AI? They're the ones who wrote to the CBSA back in October 2022 saying that if you're concerned about misconduct, look no further; Botler has an answer. Botler prepared a report. They specifically said they would only share it in exchange for a contract.
Furthermore, I find it interesting that in October 2023, they told this same committee that the CBSA was at risk of extortion. A month later, as the CBSA has indicated, Botler AI would participate in an interview only if they were given a contract for their services. Is that extortion, really?
I am left to question what is really happening here. There are people charged with criminal offences who are suspended with pay. We were suspended without pay based on unsubstantiated allegations and while on medical leave. In the employment world, this is just shy of capital punishment.
All we did was expose the fact that parliamentarians have been misled. We didn't just say so; we provided evidence. On that note, just like the bag, we have evidence that every one of the allegations raised in the report is false, misleading or taken out of context. Had the CBSA conducted the investigation leading to the creation of these reports professionally and honestly, they would have insisted on interviewing witnesses, especially us, and looking at the evidence. Instead, they crafted a document that was designed to show us in the worst possible light, and they were successful. As a result of these reports, our security clearances have been pulled and we are suspended without pay.
I understand that some members are concerned that we spoke to members of this committee when we were contacted. However, understand that we were trying to defend ourselves against this CBSA and our home departments, all three of which have the resources of the federal government targeting us.
We are not even drawing a salary. Of course, we spoke to a committee member when they reached out, as we would have to any committee member who had shown an interest. We've also had to turn to the court because the CBSA will not co-operate and disclose key information required to defend ourselves.
The CBSA acted unfairly, continues to act in bad faith and created a fabrication to distance itself from any accountability.
I am happy to take any of your questions.
In closing, isn't it ironic that the people who are pointing fingers are the ones with the dirtiest hands?