Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting today on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation.
Today, I am joined by Tom von Schoenberg, senior director of the real property contracting directorate within the procurement branch of Public Services and Procurement Canada.
I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for inviting Mr. von Schoenberg and me to respond to the testimony given by Diane Daly at the committee meeting of August 7, 2024.
Mr. Chair, serious allegations were made by Ms. Daly during her appearance before this committee. Specifically, we were accused of asking her to provide false statements to CBSA personnel in response to their request for her to appear as a witness in their investigation regarding ArriveCAN.
I want to be very clear about Ms. Daly's statements in this regard. They are false. Neither of us asked Diane Daly to engage in dishonest activities. On the contrary, we offered our support during what we understood to be a personally difficult time for her.
On December 14, 2023, I explained to Ms. Daly that her participation as a witness to the CBSA investigation was necessary as part of her job duties. I offered to accompany her, facilitated her request to have a union representative or her sister join her at the meeting, and regularly checked on her well-being before and after her meeting with CBSA investigators.
Further, between December 2023 and March 2024, I responded to several questions raised by Ms. Daly regarding her rights and obligations, either as a witness or as a respondent of internal investigations. This included providing her guidance on legal assistance and representation by her union.
I also took extra precautions to ensure that both her and my confidentiality obligations were respected concerning this file.
In March 2024, when the employee and I were informed that she was a respondent in a PSPC internal investigation, I reiterated my support and answered all of her questions, reassuring her that, while she was being removed from her procurement duties, she was on leave with pay.
Mr. Chair, my involvement with the ArriveCAN file is limited to my interactions with Ms. Daly as her director general during the period when the CBSA and PSPC initiated internal investigations, specifically between December 2023 and March 2024. It should be noted that I was not an employee of PSPC's procurement branch during the ArriveCAN procurement process and have no involvement with the related companies or associated contracts.
Mr. von Schoenberg's involvement with the ArriveCAN file was very brief and consisted of participating in the 30-minute meeting mentioned by Ms. Daly during her appearance before this committee. He attended the meeting in his capacity as her senior director at the time, with the sole responsibility of informing Ms. Daly of the necessity for her to co-operate with the CBSA's investigation. That is the full extent of Mr. von Schoenberg's involvement on this matter.
The false allegations made at this committee on August 7 have called our professional integrity into question and have the potential to undermine our reputations. In my case, this reputation was built over 30 years of flawless professional work in both the private and public sectors, in Canada and abroad.
Both Tom and I are committed to fair, open and transparent public procurements that provide best value to Canadians. I have a particular interest in solicitations for professional services, given my role as director general of a new sector within PSPC created in April 2024 to transform procurement in this commodity area.
Mr. Chair, we are grateful for the opportunity today to correct the record and clear our names of the defamatory information presented to this committee on August 7.
We would be pleased to answer your questions on these topics.
