Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the good citizens of Brantford—Brant, and it is a privilege to be speaking to the concurrence debate. Before I get into the merits of the concurrence motion, I would like to to recap how we got here.
The ArriveCAN scam is nothing short of a financial debacle, one that has ballooned from a modest estimate of $80,000 to almost $60 million, and that is only a guesstimate, as per the Auditor General. It was just not an accounting error; it was a result of chronic mismanagement and an appalling lack of oversight. The Liberals, from the Prime Minister on down, are directly responsible, and have been throughout their nine years of governance, for a waste of taxpayer dollars on an out-of-control project that has lined the pockets of well-connected consultants while Canadians are left picking up the tab.
The tale begins in November 2019, when a small, two-person, consulting firm called GC Strategies, operating out of a basement, was brought in for a seemingly innocuous task. It did not stay small for long. Run by Kristian Firth and his partner, Darren Anthony, the business quickly escalated from a low-level consulting firm to the chief contractor behind the bloated arrive scam app, securing multi-million dollar contracts at a staggering rate.
When all was said and done, the total cost exceeded almost $59 million, far beyond the original estimate. The problem, however, is not just the ballooning costs; it is also the complete absence of transparency. The very connections that GC Strategies built with senior government officials seem to have played a pivotal role in securing and expanding their contracts. By early 2020, GC Strategies was not only on the payroll but was also actively seeking more government funding, all while working behind the scenes to further entrench its position within the bureaucracy.
Despite growing concerns about the company's improper involvement and its rapid accumulation of taxpayer-funded contracts, it continued to rake in millions. By April 2021, it was celebrating the one-year anniversary of ArriveCAN with government officials, toasting its success during a virtual whisky tasting.
Meanwhile, costs continued to climb. By 2022, it became glaringly obvious that the project was not just over budget; it was spiralling out of control. By that time, $9 million of the $54 million spent had gone directly to GC Strategies. Even as public outrage grew, with citizens and experts demanding accountability, the government stood idly by. When calls for an audit of GC Strategies gained momentum, the Liberal government voted against it, further demonstrating its unwillingness to take any meaningful action.
Finally, in late 2023, more than four years into the debacle, the CBSA severed ties with GC Strategies and its partners, but the damage had already been done. The Auditor General's report revealed that the companies involved had not been properly vetted for conflicts of interest, raising serious questions about the integrity of the entire project.
The situation deepens when we look at the troubling revelations surrounding senior officials involved in the project. For instance, Cameron MacDonald, a CBSA official, testified about a heated call that he had with another official, Minh Doan, who had a conversation with the then minister of public safety, who admitted to being unhappy with the media coverage surrounding the selection of GC Strategies and demanded someone's head on a platter. As a result, there were no official records of communications between CBSA and GC Strategies; there were only vague emails about pricing.
It gets worse. I mentioned Minh Doan, who, despite his high-ranking position and expertise in computers, mysteriously lost over four years' worth of emails after a request for information was made. Conveniently, he claimed that his laptop battery change led to a technical glitch that caused his emails to disappear, an absurd explanation that would be laughable if the consequences were not so dire.
Mr. MacDonald and Antonio Utano, two mid-level officials, also got suspended without pay despite having flagged serious concerns about the lack of oversight and accountability in the project. The government's response was that they were punished for exposing the truth. Meanwhile, high-ranking officials who should have been held accountable, including ministers, remain untouched, while the real perpetrators continue to enjoy the spoils of their corruption.
The AG's scathing report on the ArriveCAN app revealed what can only be described as the worst record-keeping she has ever encountered in her career. The entire contracting process was a mess. There were no clear objectives, no accountability and no one properly in charge, including the Prime Minister and the government. The list of failures is staggering, including ghost contracting, fraudulent résumé manipulation, favouritism and a complete lack of transparency. This is a textbook case of how taxpayers' dollars can be misused when corruption runs unchecked.
The Liberal government's pattern of incompetence, mismanagement and dishonesty continues to be on full display. How can Canadians trust a government that not only mishandles taxpayer money, but actively obstructs efforts to uncover the truth? This is a government that has consistently failed to demonstrate any level of responsibility or transparency.
This brings us to the report, and why it is so critical and crucial. It is not just about exposing the incompetence and corruption within the government. It is about taking steps to ensure that this never happens again. The public accounts committee recently passed a motion calling for the government to prohibit employees from simultaneously working as external contractors. This motion came in response to a contracting company named Dalian that was paid almost $8 million for work on the ArriveCAN project. The president of Dalian was also employed by the Department of Veteran Affairs, which funded the very contract they were working on. This was a clear case of double dipping, where a government employee profits from both their salary and taxpayer-funded contracts.
The Liberals continue to argue that they need to hire outside contractors because of a lack of internal expertise. Yet, time and again, we see government employees being paid to do the same work that they were already being paid for in their government positions. This practice not only undermines public trust, but creates a system ripe for fraud and abuse.
When Conservatives pressed witnesses about this issue during the arrive scam investigation, we learned that this practice is not even explicitly prohibited. It is merely evaluated for conflicts of interest. That will never be good enough. We need clear, enforceable rules that prevent this kind of abuse from happening in the first place.
In conclusion, it is time for the government to come clean about the full extent of its failure with the ArriveCAN app. Canadians deserve transparency and accountability. Above all, they deserve assurance that their tax dollars will no longer be misused for political favours and consultant kickbacks.
This is not just a scandal, it is a crisis of trust, and it is one that the Liberal government has yet to address in any serious, meaningful way. I urge every member of this House to stand up for the taxpayers and for the integrity of our public institutions. We cannot allow this kind of waste, corruption and incompetence to continue. We must hold those responsible accountable and ensure this never happens again.