Latest news with #ArriveCan
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Canadian Foreign Min Anita Anand makes statement in House on 1 Canadian death aboard AI 787-8 flight - The Economic Times Video
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand condoled the demise of the Canadian, as well as 240 other passengers who died in a plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. The Conservatives in Canadian parliament also cornered Liberals and PM Mark Carney over contracts to GC Strategies, which is in RCMP investigation over the ArriveCan controversy during COVID-19. The parliament also debated over invites to India and Saudi Arabia to G7 in Canada.
Toronto Sun
11-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Ignoring contracting rules costs taxpayers billions: auditor general
Auditor General of Canada, Karen Hogan, holds a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS Federal auditor general Karen Hogan on Tuesday reported widespread incompetence in the awarding of government contracts by the public service, resulting in billions of dollars of taxpayers' money being wasted. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account What's even more alarming is that everyone in the system knows it and no one is doing anything about it. Given that, what is the point of having an auditor general if every time she exposes incompetence and waste, the government pays lip service to implementing her recommendations and then goes back to doing the same things that led to the issue being investigated by the auditor general in the first place? In her latest report, this concern arises from Hogan's deep dive into federal contracts awarded to Ottawa-based GCStrategies Inc. a two-person Ottawa-based IT staffing firm — meaning it doesn't do the work but contracts it out to other companies — to develop the infamous ArriveCan app. That was supposed to cost $80,000. As far as Hogan could determine — because the record keeping was so bad — it ended up costing almost $60 million. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This time Hogan, at the request of the House of Commons, examined a near-decade of 106 professional services contracts awarded to GCStrategies from 2015 to 2024 by 29 federal departments and agencies, one Crown corporation and one agent of Parliament, valued at up to $92.7 million with $64.5 million actually paid out. Among her findings: — in 58% of the contracts examined that were awarded without tendering, federal departments failed to assess whether doing so would have resulted in lower costs to taxpayers. –in more than 80% of the contracts examined that were awarded without competition or with only one valid bid, government departments failed to verify that the fees paid did not exceed market rates. — in almost 50% of the contracts examined, federal departments couldn't show the work was delivered, even though payments were made. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. — in 33% of the contracts examined, federal departments couldn't show the firms contracted were capable of completing the work. –in 21% of the contracts examined, federal departments lacked documentation showing valid security clearances for contractors working on government networks containing sensitive information. The most alarming conclusion by Hogan was her observation that she has no reason to believe these government failures were confined to this one vendor. She noted the same thing happened last year when she examined 97 contracts awarded by 10 federal departments and agencies and 10 Crown corporations valued at $209 million with $200 million paid out, to McKinsey & Company for consulting services from 2011 to 2023. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hogan — who didn't make any recommendations to improve procurement policies saying the problem isn't a lack of policies but failure to follow them — said she believes the same thing is happening throughout the federal government. Writ large, that's why, to cite just one of countless examples, the estimated cost to taxpayers for Canada acquiring 88 F-35 fighter jets — another issue Hogan examined in her report — increased by almost 50% from $19 billion in 2022 to $27.7 billion in 2024, with at least another $5.5 billion needed to make the purchases fully operational. Read More Without drawing conclusions from these specific examples, the fact the same failures keep happening over and over again year after year across the federal government, raises the question of whether beyond incompetence, political corruption is involved, which is beyond the auditor general's purview. Whether, for example, political pressure is being put on public servants to ignore procurement rules in favour of handing contracts to favoured companies and if so, why? RECOMMENDED VIDEO Celebrity NHL Editorial Cartoons Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Star
11-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Ottawa repeatedly violated procurement rules in giving ArriveCan firm nearly $100 million in contracts, auditor general finds
OTTAWA — Federal government organizations repeatedly violated procurement rules as they awarded GCStrategies Inc., the main firm behind the pandemic ArriveCan scandal, nearly $100 million in contracts over a nine-year period without proper oversight, Canada's auditor general has concluded in a new report. Rebuking contracting practices under the Trudeau government in yet another damning report, auditor general Karen Hogan found federal agencies failed to justify procurement methods and contract costs, follow security measures and monitor the work of GCStrategies, ultimately falling short in showing value for the money spent and even paying contractors without proof work was done.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
'Worst in the world...': Poilievre slams 'same Liberal gang' over performance audits, F-35 handling
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre slammed the Canadian Liberal government under PM Mark Carney over service contracts awarded to GC Strategies, the company behind the controversial ArriveCan app.
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
CTV National News: How Ottawa bungles the awarding of federal contracts
Watch The auditor general found that federal workers ignored rules for nearly a decade when awarding contracts the company behind ArriveCan. Judy Trinh reports.
