The federal watchdog responsible for examining wrongdoing in the public sector says the office is launching an “investigation” in relation to the ArriveCan app controversy — the latest probe into the scandal-ridden project.
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Harriet Solloway is probing “several allegations of wrongdoing” and looking into complaints alleging two former Canada Border Services Agency officials faced “reprisals” for accusing their superiors of “misleading” Parliament about who ultimately hired GC Strategies — the IT firm behind the program.
The two-person company is now at the center of a widening political scandal, after Auditor General Karen Hogan found the problem-plagued app cost taxpayers at least $59 million.
Solloway confirmed her review into the matter in a letter dated March 4 and sent to Conservative MP Kelly Block, who had recently written to her about the pandemic-era app.
“After a detailed analysis of the information available to my Office,” Solloway said, it is her “decision to commence an investigation into several allegations of wrongdoing… in relation to the development and management of ArriveCan.”
A recent tally shows GC Strategies has received more than $100 million in federal contracts since 2011. The contractors behind the company are set to appear before a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
Ex-CBSA employees Cameron MacDonald and Antonio Utano also appeared before a committee and said last month they were suspended without pay for their testimony.
“CBSA is punishing us because we told the truth,” MacDonald said on Feb. 22.
He and Utano told MPs that senior officials at the border agency tried to cover up ArriveCan’s ballooning costs.
“Having obtained their permission to share this information, we can confirm that reprisal complaints were made to our Office by Mr. Cameron McDonald and Mr. Antonio Utano regarding alleged reprisal measures taken against them after their testimonies before the Committee,” Solloway’s office said in a statement to Global News Tuesday.
“We are processing their complaints as per the Act. To protect the complainants’ personal information and the confidentiality and integrity of the process, we are unable to comment further on ongoing matters.”
The men say they were suspended on “baseless accusations” designed to “torpedo” their careers.
In the letter to Block, the public sector integrity commissioner also pointed to a motion passed by the committee asking Solloway to “investigate allegations of wrongdoing in relation to this matter.”
The public sector integrity commissioner’s office is an independent body that reports to Parliament on allegations of wrongdoing and whistleblowing in the public sector, recommends fixes and refers cases to a tribunal.
The ArriveCan program has been under scrutiny for more than a year, but concerns came to a head last month when Hogan released a scathing report.
She found a “glaring disregard” for basic management practices and called the project one of the worst examples of financial record keeping she has ever seen, making it impossible to determine the final price tag.
The RCMP has said that it’s examining Hogan’s findings and “investigating a matter referred from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).”
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