Government Operations Committee on Feb. 6th, 2023

[Ehren Cory]

My understanding is there were three separate contracts, all prior to my time. One had two phases to it, but there were three different pieces of work, yes.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

One had two phases, so that's where I probably got the four from.

[Ehren Cory]

Yes, that's right—exactly.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Were you involved in the decision to award McKinsey the infrastructure contracts?

[Ehren Cory]

No, I wasn't. Those all predate my time at the CIB. I wasn't here. I was working for the province at the time.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Do you know whether there was a request for a quote or a tender process involved in awarding McKinsey those contracts with the Infrastructure Bank?

[Ehren Cory]

I really can't speak to the procurement that was used in the days I wasn't an employee here and wasn't here for that. What I can tell you is we do have a really clear procurement policy that we follow, similar to other Crown corporations, and the government itself, I'm sure. We have—

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Sorry, Mr. Cory; you're telling me you have a fair process, and there was no—

[Ehren Cory]

That's correct.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

—unfair advantage given to McKinsey executives in deciding which company would get the contract with the Infrastructure Bank, but it just so happened that four contracts went to McKinsey from the Infrastructure Bank. You're telling me that other businesses had a fair shot at those contracts.

[Ehren Cory]

I'm telling you that they were several years before I was here, so I really can't comment on the procurement process, but we do have very clear procurement policies around best value for money. We use external advisers on our transactions because we're doing—

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

It's a coincidence.

Mr. Cory, the public sees this process as McKinsey stacking the Infrastructure Bank with their loyalists so that there could not be a fair tender process and so other companies would not have the same advantage because the Infrastructure Bank has been stacked with McKinsey loyalists. That's what the public sees.

Did you create a Chinese wall to ensure that McKinsey would not have this unfair advantage that the public is seeing?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Could you give us a very brief answer, please?

[Ehren Cory]

I would say to the public that the fact of the matter is that not since any former McKinsey employees have worked at the CIB has McKinsey been hired to do a dollar's worth of work.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

You have 1.43—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I'm sorry, but that is our time.

Mr Jowhari, go ahead, please.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

Welcome to our committee, Mr. Cory.

I have a bunch of rapid questions. I'm hoping for quick responses, because I want to get to debunking some of the themes that are being created.

Between 2001 and 2012, you were at McKinsey. My understanding is that you were the leader in the public sector in capital project practice. Am I right?

[Ehren Cory]

That's correct.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Roughly what was the dollar amount of the contracts that McKinsey, under your leadership, had with the Government of Canada during that period?

[Ehren Cory]

My primary work in the public sector was actually at the provincial level. I did work in both the Province of Ontario and Saskatchewan at the time. In the federal government, I did relatively little work. It was around infrastructure, of course, and also economic competitiveness. Probably in total it was a very small amount. I don't want to quote a number to you—

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Was it one million? Was it more than five?

[Ehren Cory]

It was one to two million dollars.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Between 2012 and 2020 you were with the Province of Ontario around infrastructure. Am I right?

[Ehren Cory]

That's correct.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

In that department, how many executives did you have working for you?