Evidence of meeting #127 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was emails.
A video is available from Parliament.
7:45 p.m.
Conservative
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Doan, to your knowledge, during the process of awarding and renewing contracts to develop the ArriveCAN app, did Shared Services Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada ask questions about the application of that process by your teams?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
All I know is what I recently learned, from reading the report of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and listening to the Auditor General's testimony. From what I understand, Public Services and Procurement Canada, in particular, had noted—
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
I'm sorry to interrupt you.
Were you personally aware of it? Did no one inform you about the situation?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
No.
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Right. Thank you.
Are you familiar with Public Services and Procurement Canada's process for awarding contracts?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
I am familiar with the process, but it's been some time since I used it.
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Does the Canada Border Services Agency have particular rules, rules of its own, about awarding contracts?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
We apply the rules set for us by Treasury Board. From what I have heard, I think even more oversight has been put in place in response to the recommendations in the report of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and the report of the Office of the Procurement Ombud.
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you.
As a manager, how did you make sure that the people who reported to you were applying all the rules of the contracting process properly, as well as the ethical rules?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
That kind of comes back to the answer I gave to one of your previous questions. All executives, particularly directors general, have taken a course on the code of conduct. They have taken a huge number of courses. So they are familiar with the fundamental principle of ethics.
The question that was asked was whether they had any points to raise. I counted on them to inform me about things they were concerned about and to tell me if they needed my opinion or needed me to do something.
7:45 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Right.
Would your biggest weakness have been to trust people too much, so that someone could have exploited that weakness?
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
Thinking back about everything that has happened to me—
7:45 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
It was one of my weaknesses during the pandemic.
7:45 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Doan, you mentioned in a previous response that Mr. Firth, I believe, had difficulty with your four-letter last name. I notice that committee members have used three or four different versions this evening. At one point, the Liberals chose to lower their voices when they got to your name as a strategy.
We should have done this right at the beginning: How do you pronounce your last name? Which committee member got it closest?
7:50 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
Thank you for that.
Listen, my name is—
7:50 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
7:50 p.m.
Chief Technology Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
I'm Vietnamese. My name's fairly simple. It's Minh. I've heard it every single way. Often I hear “Ming”, and I ask myself where in Minh they would hear a G. I've kind of just developed a little bit of a shell on that.
My last name, Doan, is Vietnamese. Because of the French influence, we pronounce it “Do-ahn”, but I'm used to being called Doan as well, similar to a hockey player, I believe. I don't watch hockey, but I believe there's a famous hockey player with the last name Doan.
I prefer “Do-ahn”, but I totally accept Doan as well.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thanks for answering our questions this evening, Mr. Do-ahn.
7:50 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
7:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Thanks, Mr. Bachrach. I appreciate the levity today. Well done.
We'll finish up with Mr. Genuis and then Mr. Sousa.
Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.