Debates of April 17th, 2024

Sitting Resumed

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, I have not.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have not seen a scandal like this since the ETS scandal under the Harper government. The ETS scandal cost Canadian taxpayers $400 million. The Conservatives had a majority government at the time. The Conservatives did everything they could to keep Canadians from getting the answers they were looking for. This Conservative scandal was never resolved and we never got the information.

However, this time, since we have a minority Parliament, we are getting answers about the ArriveCAN scandal. That is extremely important. It is because of the parliamentary powers we have. As we saw under the Harper regime, with a majority government, it was not possible to get answers about the $400 million the Conservatives had spent without any transparency at all, but today, we have the opportunity to get more answers, and I think that is important.

If I understood correctly, Mr. Firth stated earlier that he only influenced three things in the 220 requirements of the contracts.

Is he saying that he did not influence the contract, or is he saying that he did not influence the contract as much as is being claimed?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is correct to both of those. I had no influence at all on the contract award, and I had no influence on the ArriveCAN scandal.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Firth mentioned earlier that he did in fact falsify or alter the résumés.

According to what we heard in committee, one person was said to have 13 years of experience, when that was not true. Other information about these people was also falsified.

I want to ask two questions.

First, does Mr. Firth regret the fact that those résumés were falsified?

Second, to date, the federal government has not asked for the questionable amounts to be repaid. Is Mr. Firth prepared to reimburse Canadian taxpayers for the questionable amounts of these contracts?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, the Botler contract was in no way related to the ArriveCAN application.

Furthermore, I made a margin of zero dollars on the Botler opportunity.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this historic, unprecedented occasion.

I would like to put this question to Mr. Firth. I know he will not have them with him at the moment, but will he provide to Parliament and the operations committee the full list of all website domains that he has registered or requested to be registered in pursuit of his business as an IT staffing firm?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I can do that.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to review some of the answers that Mr. Firth gave earlier today.

To the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, when asked if he would have liked to have answered differently when he thinks back and reflects on his answers to committee, his answer was that he wished he could have answered more concisely. I would like to put it to the witness that no one has accused him of answers that were verbose. He has been accused of answering, and found to have answered, in ways ways that were evasive and dishonest.

Would he like to amend his answer to say he wishes he had answered honestly in the first instance?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, again, as a result of the admonishment, I see there are a lot of mistakes I have made. That is why I am here, so the answer would be yes.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in response to questions from the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable, Mr. Firth similarly had said earlier today, “I made mistakes”. Is it correct to say that, when the witness says “I made mistakes”, he is acknowledging that he behaved in ways that amounted to a contempt of Parliament by being deliberately misleading, evasive and dishonest? I would suggest that most Canadians would not consider these to be mistakes, but deliberate efforts to mislead Parliament.

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, they were mistakes. I have a lot of respect for this, and this was not to be deliberately misleading.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like, in the last few moments we have here with the witness, to put myself in the position of a Canadian watching this on television, and wondering how this could happen. I think it is clear on a factual basis, and respecting this place and everyone in it, that there has been here, in this example, as the Auditor General has found and as the ombudsman has found, an appalling failure of our procurement process. It is completely unacceptable, and the individuals involved at GC Strategies, particularly Mr. Firth and his partner, have benefited personally from what can best be described as extremely dodgy business practices.

I would like to ask, on behalf of the people of Canada, an obvious question. I am not suggesting there is an answer, but I would like to ask Mr. Firth if he is a member of any political party. Does he donate to any particular party? Has he been involved in currying favour with any party or political parties in this country?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, no, I have not.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pursuing evidence that the witness gave to the government operations committee on October 20. It is a very interesting skill set that the witness has, to obtain these various contracts. Mr. Firth said, “between my business partner Darren and me, we have 30 years of experience dealing with IT companies, whether we are dealing with independent consultants or we have had the luxury of dealing with true subject matter firms.... [We] build a network in which we know the people”.

Is it the case that the business experience that gained him millions of dollars, to his personal benefit, amounts to him having an extensive Rolodex of people in the Ottawa area whom he entertains?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, it has afforded us the luxury of having a large Rolodex of resources we can use and get them contracts from the federal government.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, given the experience here, and knowing that the witness has health challenges, all I can ask is this: Is he not ashamed?

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, do I have to answer that?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Yes, you do.

[Kristian Firth]

Mr. Speaker, I am not ashamed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It is my duty to inform the House that Mr. Firth's presence at the bar is no longer required and that the order is discharged.

Mr. Firth, you are now excused from the bar and will be escorted out by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

The House resumed from April 15 consideration of the motion that Bill S-209, An Act respecting Pandemic Observance Day, be read the third time and passed.

Pandemic Day Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It being 5:44 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill S-209 under Private Members' Business.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #740

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to submit a membership report for some membership changes that all parties have agreed to.