We include several mentions in our audit report that it was in the context of the pandemic. Like other COVID programs that were launched, this was done with record speed. Putting up a program of such magnitude was very quick when you think that 900,000 businesses, for the most part, in less than 28 days, received the funds they needed.
As I mentioned earlier, it wasn't the “what was done”. That was well done. It was the “how it was done”. I recognize that, at the start of the pandemic, it made sense to find a vendor, because EDC needed surge capacity to do this. It made sense to go with a vendor you knew. However, that doesn't mean you continue to rely on that vendor and don't move away from hourly contracts to a fixed price. We saw movement to a fixed price only in 2024. Three years down the line, you should have had time to run some competitive processes. However, I recognize—we even acknowledge it in the report—that, throughout all of this, there were delays in receiving decisions on the policy front, because this program was transitioning a lot.
It is still the responsibility of EDC, as the Crown delivering the program, to try to always achieve best value for money. That can be challenging. “Is that really the right price? Can we get a better price? Can we go to a fixed price versus hourly?” Certain things, I think, could have been done to improve the value for money as this went along.