Thank you for the opportunity to add some clarity to my testimony from December 8, 2022, when I testified during the committee's study of the ArriveCAN app, as well as to respond to inferences made in the Globe and Mail article published on October 6, 2023.
First, I retired on June 24, 2022; therefore, when I appeared last December, I did so as an individual, without any access to my business records. I answered all questions truthfully and to the best of my recollection. When I answered Mr. Barrett's question on whether I had contact with Mr. Firth from GC Strategies in my role as president of CBSA and I answered no, I did so because I had no recollection of ever meeting anyone from GC Strategies on ArriveCAN or any other matter. Given this lack of recollection, it never occurred to me to verify this with the agency.
It now appears that there was, in fact, one virtual Teams meeting on September 29, 2020, which I attended to receive a demonstration from another company, Botler AI, on a matter completely unrelated to ArriveCAN, and it included a representative from GC Strategies. The agency has provided me with the meeting records, and there were 12 people in attendance, including me, as well as a representative from GC Strategies identified simply as “[email protected]”. The agency has told me that this was the only meeting in my records that shows a representative from GC Strategies attending a meeting with me, and I have no recollection of any other meeting in any form with a representative from GC Strategies.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Curry's October 6, 2023, article conflates two separate issues, and despite having made it clear to him that I had not verified my testimony with the agency, because I had and still have no recollection of ever meeting Mr. Firth, the article states that my testimony should be called into question. Mr. Curry's rationale for this was that I failed to remember every individual who participated in a virtual meeting I had over three years ago. In hindsight, I should have verified this with the agency sooner and clarified this with the committee, and I apologize for any confusion this has caused.
Finally, with respect to the allegations regarding Botler AI, the agency has searched my records and told me that I was never briefed on any of the allegations made by Botler AI before I retired on June 24, 2022, nor have I been contacted by anyone regarding any of these allegations.
Mr. Chair, that concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer any questions.