I would back it up to say that fundamentally the deputy head, in this case the president of Canada Border Services Agency, is responsible for all decisions that are made within the department. With that being said, there are delegations of authority that go to other layers of the public service. I draw a difference between individuals who do the work and then individuals who oversee and make decisions. Those individuals are usually in management—director, DG and assistant deputy minister level. They set the tone for making sure that policies and basic requirements are followed.
We found a glaring disregard for that here. We could not find documented evidence as to who made the ultimate decision to choose a vendor or why that vendor was chosen, but we did see a contract requisition that was signed by an executive director in the department. In my view, when a public servant exercises their delegation of authority by signing something, that comes with a responsibility and accountability for that decision being made. If they feel that they've been pressured or didn't want to make the decision, they should have informed their supervisor or they should have documented. There are recourses that public servants can take if they feel they shouldn't be exercising the delegation of authority that's granted to them.