Government Operations committee  We provide information to management as it comes up during the investigation. Usually, it is not in a formal format. This was a different case, as they were not employees of the CBSA.

Government Operations committee  She did receive a copy of the preliminary statement of facts, yes.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I can assure this committee that none of the actions taken in the course of the investigation were as a result of any evidence heard before this committee. Our investigation is proceeding in parallel with the work of the committee, but not as a result of anything that you heard here.

Government Operations committee  ArriveCAN as an application is not something that we're investigating. We're investigating procurement matters around that.

Government Operations committee  Some of the allegations that we're investigating do touch on contracts that were used for ArriveCAN.

Government Operations committee  Generally speaking, when we receive allegations of employee misconduct, we initiate a preliminary review. The point of that preliminary review is to see if there's any evidence to substantiate whether something occurred or not. If we have evidence to substantiate it, we would move forward to a formal phase of the investigation.

Government Operations committee  They have not.

Government Operations committee  I am the director responsible for conducting investigations within the CBSA, so yes, my team and I were assigned this file.

Government Operations committee  It was from the beginning, in November of 2022.

Government Operations committee  I'm not exactly sure which statement of the president you're referring to. I can speak to my process, and we have not yet reached any conclusions relating to misconduct.

Government Operations committee  What I can say is that it is normal in the course of an investigation for our investigators to share information with management so that they may take the administrative measures that they feel are required, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Government Operations committee  I did.

Government Operations committee  I became aware when the matter became public through The Globe and Mail, I believe it was.

Government Operations committee  I can't speak to the appropriateness of the decisions taken by other departments. Mr. Utano and Mr. MacDonald are not employees of the CBSA. I can't make any assessments relating to their employment. What I can say, and I think it's important for the committee to understand, is that it is normal in the course of an investigation to ensure that mitigating measures are put in place when there are potential risks.

Government Operations committee  Management may take any number of administrative measures pending the conclusion of an investigation. I can speak generally. For example, if we're conducting an investigation indicating an employee may be disclosing information inappropriately, management may choose to remove their access to sensitive systems.