A recent report has revealed that GC Strategies, the government vendor responsible for developing the ArriveCAN app, has received a staggering $258 million in federal contracts since Justin Trudeau took office in 2015.
The revelation has prompted calls from the Conservative Party for an investigation by the Auditor General into every contract and dollar paid to the company.
According to La Presse, GC Strategies has secured approximately 140 federal government contracts, with nearly half awarded by the Canada Border Services Agency, and 46 contracts given without a tender process.
The cost of the controversial ArriveCAN app, initially projected at $80,000, escalated to $59.5 million, with GC Strategies receiving $19.1 million, the largest sum among all contractors.
Conservative MPs expressed outrage, highlighting that GC Strategies, purportedly a two-person IT firm, received substantial government contracts without evidence of significant IT work. They raised concerns about the company subcontracting the ArriveCan project despite being the primary contractor.
Auditor General Karen Hogan criticized the lack of transparency and basic accounting in assessing ArriveCan’s costs, labeling it as one of the worst instances of financial mismanagement in years.
Earlier in the week, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre urged the RCMP to expand its criminal investigation into ArriveCAN and proposed parliamentary committees to scrutinize the affair further.
In response to mounting scrutiny, Public Services and Procurement Canada suspended all contracts with GC Strategies at the Canada Border Service Agency’s request. The department initiated a comprehensive review of contracts awarded to GC Strategies to assess associated risks.
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