Thank you.
Minister Lightbound, last week, the Auditor General released yet another report that outlines that your government is failing when it comes to contracts.
On the CRA call centre with IBM, your government oversaw the ballooning of this contract from $50 million to $190 million, and results weren't even met for Canadians. Earlier this week, the department officials said that the government had learned a very hard lesson.
Minister, when Canadians make a typo on their tax filings, the CRA agent doesn't accept their pleas that they've learned their lesson. The CRA agent goes after them with the full weight of the federal government for the money owed. However, when it is your government that makes contract errors and doesn't validate invoices or scrutinize to ensure the money being spent is actually for a service provided, your department officials believe that learning a hard lesson is enough. On behalf of Canadian taxpayers, Minister, no, it's not enough.
Even worse, last week was not the first time the Auditor General had delivered this message. Your government has been consistently criticized by the Auditor General for the lack of scrutiny, validation and competition for multi-million dollar contracts.
In June, after tabling her audit on GC Strategies, the Auditor General was extremely clear that the government need only follow the existing rules on procurement and contracting. It's clear that your government throws value for money out of the window at every single opportunity, and instead, rewards its Liberal friends and insiders when developing contracts.
Minister, when will you and your government listen to the Auditor General and finally ensure your departments and agencies follow the existing external contracting rules?