Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I look forward to a further invitation to Ms. Reza to attend this particular committee to answer some relevant questions surrounding these concerns.
On the “bait and switch”, Mr. Mills, you identified an understanding of “bait and switch” as presented by my colleague Mrs. Block. I want to do a little more push-back, because prior to Mrs. Block's bringing to your attention the real entity behind GC Strategies and the business they are in, you repeatedly said, “Well, they've been in several government contracts providing IT services.” That is so inaccurate. One of the directors of GC Strategies, one of the principals behind it, Kristian Firth himself, made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that they have no expertise in IT. They are simply external consultants who contract with the Government of Canada to find IT professionals, which is really an offensive move, particularly when you take a look at the size of the federal public service, which Justin Trudeau has increased by 40% since 2015.
Last week, at the ethics committee, we heard from Jennifer Carr, the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which oversees our professional IT federal public servants. They are rightly angered, very angry at the Government of Canada for simply bypassing their skills and their expertise in-house.
You're certainly aware of that, are you not, Mr. Mills?