Today Conservatives introduced a motion calling on the government to recover the money given to GCStrategies and ensure real accountability with lifetime bans for GCStrategies, its founders and any affiliated entities.
Ottawa, ON – This week, the Auditor General confirmed that GCStrategies, the dodgy IT firm that does no IT work now under RCMP investigation for ArriveCan, was awarded 106 contracts worth nearly $100 million under the Liberals. Despite already receiving $64.5 million from the government, the Auditor General found that in 46 percent of cases, there was little or no evidence that work was actually performed.
That’s why Conservatives are bringing forward a motion to ensure Canadians get their money back within 100 days of passing. Furthermore, it calls on the government to bring forward real consequences, including lifetime contracting bans for GCStrategies and any of its subsidiaries, and its founders, Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony, along with any other entities they are affiliated with.
GCStrategies was behind the notorious ArriveScam app that was originally budgeted at only $80,000 but ballooned to cost Canadians at least $60 million. Despite another attempted Liberal cover-up, the House of Commons passed a Conservative motion requesting the Auditor General investigate GCStrategies’ other contracts with the government.
The Auditor General found the Liberal government failed to verify if they were paying the market rate in 82 percent of contracts, while failing to ensure contractors had the experience or qualifications to do the work one-third of the time. Meanwhile, in 58 percent of cases, time sheets were not collected or contained inadequate descriptions of what work was being performed.
Their report also found there was no verification that GCStrategies contractors had valid security clearances in half of the reviewed contracts. In fact, in one-fifth of contracts, the Auditor General confirmed the individuals working on the projects lacked a valid security clearance – including contracts at Industry Canada and, most alarmingly, National Defence.
The same Liberal Ministers who oversaw these failures continue to serve in Mark Carney’s Cabinet, with many even getting promotions. That’s as spending on outside consultants is set to balloon 37 percent – rising to $26 billion a year and costing the average family $1,400.
At a time when Canadians are struggling to pay their bills in record numbers, Canadians deserve to get their hard-earned money back. It’s time for the government to recover the funds, make Canadians whole and ensure money is spent wisely so taxpayers are protected.