Government Operations committee  There is a company by that name. In the ArriveCAN..., there are four separate contracts in the name of GC Strategies.

Government Operations committee  I'd like to provide some additional clarification for the committee. There were two decisions here. The first decision was how the ArriveCAN app would be developed. That decision was a staff augmentation decision. The decision was to keep this in-house in order to develop the app and use staff augmentation to bring in the technical services required.

Government Operations committee  Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(c) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, October 17, 2022, the committee is meeting to consider matters related to the ArriveCAN application. As always, colleagues, keep your earpieces away from the microphones. It causes feedback and potential injury to our very valued interpreters. I understand, Mr. Moor, that you have an opening five-minute statement.

Privilege  We have been dealing with what could be called a new scandal in recent weeks. This is about ArriveCAN, an app that was supposed to cost $80,000 but may have cost $60 million. We are not even sure. The Auditor General issued a report on the government's management of the ArriveCAN app.

Committees of the House  I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 38th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in relation to a motion adopted on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, regarding “Report 1: ArriveCan” of the 2024 reports of the Auditor General of Canada. That motion reads: “That the committee invites the President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand to appear for no less than two hours in relation to the ArriveCAN study, and that this meeting occur within three weeks of this motion being adopted.”

Privilege  This is a serious moment, but it is also essential to ensure that the people who testify before committees understand that, when members of this Parliament ask them to appear before a committee and answer members' questions, they must tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I myself had the opportunity to take part in a few committee meetings on the ArriveCAN issue. Let us not forget that ArriveCAN was supposed to cost $80,000, but it ended up costing around $60 million. No one can even say how much the app cost because the companies involved refused to hand over all the information.

Human Resources committee  For example, there was the president of the Customs and Immigration Union, who recently appeared at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, who said, “we believe the goal of the [ArriveCAN] app is to replace officers”. That was testimony he gave. He also said, “Once the ArriveCAN app came in, members brought concerns forward to the union, which we tried to bring to the employer.

Public Accounts committee  No, Mr. Chair, the Department of National Defence was not involved with the ArriveCAN app. The link to us is obviously through the suppliers that were involved in ArriveCAN and that we have contracts with: GC Strategies, Dalian and Coradix.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. I know that the notice of meeting says that we are here to discuss “Report 1, ArriveCAN, of the 2024 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada”, so I think I should probably ask you some questions around that also. Did the Department of National Defence have anything to do with the development of the ArriveCAN app?

Information & Ethics committee  Federal spending on outsourcing increased to $14.6 billion last year, which is 74% higher than when the Liberals, under Justin Trudeau, promised in 2015 to cut back on the use of external consultants. We now have evidence that ArriveCAN ballooned to at least $60 million. What you announced yesterday with your colleague, Minister Duclos, in my view, is only the tip of the iceberg, because Minister Duclos confirmed yesterday that the three companies in question that fraudulently billed taxpayers $5 million had nothing to do with ArriveCAN.

Information & Ethics committee  Your Liberal government failed to take any action on ArriveCAN until they were dragged, kicking and screaming. We hear time and time again that you take it seriously, but you, Minister, voted against having the Auditor General investigate ArriveCAN.

Information & Ethics committee  Ma'am, over a dozen investigations have been launched into your government's $60-million ArriveCAN scam. What does that tell you? If the absence of an investigation implies innocence, what do you infer from 12 investigations launched in the case of the ArriveCAN scam?

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, there are two committees that are conducting a very intense study of the ArriveCAN issue. There is the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, which we have talked about at length, and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, of which I am a member.

Privilege  We have lived through too many scandals. There was the ETS scandal under the Conservatives. Now we have the ArriveCAN scandal under the Liberals. It is important that we get all the answers in order to put an end to all these scandals. The procedure being proposed has not been used in over 110 years.

Privilege  Speaker, first and foremost, we need to ensure that taxpayers get what they deserve and that they are being treated fairly in terms of money being spent on their behalf. Whenever an issue arises through government like we have seen with ArriveCAN, we need to get to the bottom of it on behalf of taxpayers. To that end, I am definitely supportive of what the member for New Westminster—Burnaby has indicated. However, I do want to stress that the reason I put forward the amendment is my concern as to what we will actually get out of the process of having the individual here.