Evidence of meeting #59 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 work.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
It's force of habit.
Mrs. Vignola, you have six minutes, please.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you very much, Chair.
Mr. Palter, thank you for being with us today.
You mentioned the awarding of contracts. It was disclosed to us that some of the contracts did not bear the signatures of both officials, that the number of contracts offered through a competitive process was significantly lower than expected of the officials, and that McKinsey was paid before all of their contract’s milestones were met.
Were you aware of these irregularities?
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
I am not sure that I'm aware of the specifics of the irregularities that you're alluding to. I am not aware of any contract where.... I'm just not aware of the specifics of the contract in question.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
In fact, that was reported in French by Radio-Canada. I’m guessing that’s not your primary source of morning news.
During meetings with McKinsey, as part of the contracting process, did officials ask in which language you wished to provide the requested information?
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
I was not personally in any of those meetings, so I can't stipulate as to whether that question was ever asked and answered.
What I can tell you is that McKinsey recognizes very clearly that we are a country with two official languages. We take that obligation seriously. As I suspect you appreciate, we have a Montreal office and we have 150-plus employees there. It is a French-speaking office, and we honour the requirements of the federal government to provide service in both languages.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Is it problematic for you that contracts specify that deliverables must be in English and that in-person presentations must be in English, and in French if necessary, or is this the standard way of conducting business?
Does government specify the language of deliverables or do you determine the preferred language?
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
As part of our work with the federal government, we have a requirement to meet the language requirements of the federal government, so we follow those directly.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
From what I understand, you’re simply complying with requests. You aren’t the one making the decisions.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you very much.
Has McKinsey ever been called upon to advise the Quebec government, for example, on the best ways to obtain health transfers?
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Mr. Chair, in response to the question, I'm here in the capacity to answer the questions of this committee about our service to the federal government. I am happy to take those questions.
Bloc
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
We generally offer very wide questioning on things, so we would appreciate an answer.
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Mr. Chair, I am not aware of any such request.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you.
You worked with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on immigration thresholds.
Did the advice and suggested means of achieving these thresholds, for a target population of 100 million in Canada by 2100, take into account the specific characteristics of each region, be that Quebec, the Maritimes, the Prairies or Western Canada?
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Mr. Chair, McKinsey does not make and has not made policy recommendations to the Government of Canada. The work in question, as it relates to the IRCC, was about digitizing processes. We had no input on the issue of policy.
I also believe the minister responsible for that decision stated to this committee that the decision was his and his alone, with no involvement from McKinsey.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Palter, have you been asked to advise an aviation company on the best ways for them to secure government contracts?
When I say aviation company, I mean a company that builds aircraft.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Give a very brief answer, please. We'll probably have to come back to this in the next round.
Conservative
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you for being here today.
You worked alongside Mr. Barton for a number of years pretty closely.
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Mr. Barton and I overlapped very briefly in Toronto. He then moved to Asia. For the vast majority of my career, he was in Asia.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Okay. He served as an adviser to the Harper government. He stated that here at committee. As well, he was an adviser to the former finance minister, Bill Morneau, prior to his move to China to serve as Canada's ambassador.
Are you aware of whether he had a closer relationship with Prime Minister Harper versus Prime Minister Trudeau?