Minister Anand Says Federal Government Seeks Funds Back from ArriveCan Contractor
Treasury Board President Anita Anand mentioned that the federal government plans to recover funds from GC Strategies, a company involved in the ArriveCan scandal.
During the Public Accounts Committee on April 18, Ms. Anand stated, “There’s an ongoing RCMP investigation, and we intend to recoup all funds once that investigation is concluded.”
She added, “The departments are recording receivables in their accounts, including overpayments and erroneous payments. We will always protect taxpayer dollars, which is our duty at the Treasury Board of Canada.”
In Question Period earlier that day, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc assured that the government would recover the money. He said, “Of course, the government will always seek to recover taxpayers’ money that was spent inappropriately.”
Ms. Anand avoided confirming whether GC Strategies had been asked to return the funds. When GC Strategies Managing Partner Kristian Firth appeared before the House of Commons the day before, he mentioned that his company had not been requested to repay any funds.
Mr. Firth’s company and his partner Darren Anthony received approximately $19.1 million for their work on the app used to monitor the COVID-19 vaccination status of travelers during the pandemic. In February, the auditor general’s report indicated that the $59.5 million app did not provide value for the taxpayer dollars spent.
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The report also highlighted poor record-keeping during the app’s development, making it difficult to determine the full cost of the app. This further fueled MPs’ concerns about the app’s high cost.
Mr. Firth Admonished in Parliament
On April 17, Mr. Firth was publicly admonished by the speaker of the House for not answering questions from a government committee about the app. In March, Mr. Firth avoided several questions, citing the ongoing RCMP investigation, despite not being contacted by them regarding the app.
Shortly before the admonishment, the RCMP confirmed executing a search warrant at Mr. Firth’s house in Woodlawn, Ont., the previous day. The search warrant was unrelated to their ArriveCan investigation, as stated by the RCMP to The Epoch Times.
Under questioning from Conservative MPs, Mr. Firth mentioned that the RCMP executed a search warrant to obtain electronic devices related to allegations by Botler AI, a tech firm not involved in ArriveCan but contracted through GC Strategies for a different project. Mr. Firth believed these allegations pertained to “fraudulent bidding and resume fraud.”
Botler AI co-founder Amir Morv had previously testified that their resumes were altered without permission for government task authorization. Mr. Firth admitted to unintentionally changing the resumes when submitting them to the government.
It’s uncommon for individuals to be publicly admonished in the House, having been used only five times since the early 1900s. Government contractors being summoned to the Bar of the House is even rarer, with the last instance being in 1913 involving former utility company president R.C. Miller.
Mr. Firth acknowledged his mistakes by stating, “Acknowledging the fact that I’m being admonished, making history right now, I think I have acknowledged the fact that I’ve made mistakes in previous committees” during his discussion with MPs.
