Public Accounts Committee on May 30th, 2024

[Barry Dowdall]

If I might, I would just say what I've already said, which is that all of our contracts were competitively procured through the RFP process. There was no sole source or anything. They were all in the RFP process, and we were successful in winning them through a very competitive process. These processes are very competitive.

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Okay.

Ms. Lee.

[Lydia Lee]

Thank you for the member's question.

I just want to add, on behalf of KPMG, that we're really proud of the work we did to support both the Public Health Agency of Canada and CBSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, circumstances for both agencies were incredibly stressful. At all times we followed the government's preferred procurement process, and we did not influence that procurement process. We abided by it at their request. I just want to clarify that.

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Okay.

How much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

You have about 20 seconds.

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Do you have anything that you would like to add?

[Christopher Loschmann]

I have no additional clarifications at this time.

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Okay.

I'll cede my time.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you very much.

Beginning our fourth and final round, Mr. Brock, you have the floor for five minutes, please.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Bashir, I'm still going to be circling back on your relationship with GC Strategies and Kristian Firth.

Your evidence is somewhat clear: three to four possible meetings with Mr. Firth before you engaged with him pursuant to direction given by Mr. Utano. Did any of those meetings occur at his place of business?

[Imraan Bashir]

No, sir, they did not.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Okay.

Were they all at the government offices?

[Imraan Bashir]

All in the lobby of 90 Elgin, from what I recall...yes.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Were you familiar with where he conducted his business?

[Imraan Bashir]

I did not have any line of sight into that.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

He probably didn't tell you that he operated out of his basement, did he?

[Imraan Bashir]

I did not have any line of sight into that either.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

No, he didn't offer that.

[Imraan Bashir]

That's correct.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

He didn't tell you where he worked out of? Did he give you a business card at least?

[Imraan Bashir]

It's possible. I don't recall, but I don't recall the basement conversation coming up.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Okay.

Help me with this, because I have a hard time reconciling the evidence your partner, Mr. Hartaj Nijjar, gave on the last occasion and your evidence today with respect to a very key issue.

My colleague Mr. Nater used the phrase “flim-flammed”. You weren't familiar with that phrase. It could be “hoodwinked”. It could be “snowed”. It could be “lied to”. You certainly didn't know is what I understand. They offered no IT services whatsoever. They were strictly a middleman connecting the Government of Canada with professionals.

You're saying that you didn't know that and Mr. Firth didn't volunteer that information. That's what you're telling us today. Is that correct?

[Imraan Bashir]

That is correct.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Here's the problem. Your partner, Mr. Nijjar, on the last occasion at committee, said the firm, KPMG, followed “rigorous...processes” and determined “no adverse considerations in contracting with GC Strategies, given that [they were] a well-known entity in the government sector”. Both versions cannot be true at the same time.

What were those “rigorous...processes” that determined there were “no adverse considerations”? Did you at least do an address check?

[Imraan Bashir]

I don't know the details. I'll ask Ms. Lee after this to provide whatever details she can about our acceptance processes, which are executed by another team. My understanding is that they look into a variety of factors, including the board of directors or C-suite, any kind of—