Total cost of ArriveCan 'impossible to determine' due to poor record-keeping, AG report finds

The final cost of the controversial ArriveCan app is impossible to determine due to poor financial record-keeping, a new auditor general report has found.

It is just one of the findings that Canada's Auditor General Karen Hogan highlighted in a damning report about the pandemic-era tool.

Overall, Hogan found that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and Public Services and Procurement Canada "repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, developmentand implementation of the ArriveCan application."

"This is probably the first example that I've seen such a glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules," Hogan told the House public accounts committee on Monday.

Hogan said she found "omissions everywhere" in the financial record-keeping.

"I have to say I am deeply concerned by what this audit didn't find,"she told MPs on the committee.

"We didn't find records to accurately show how much was spent on what, who did the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made and that paper trail should have existed."

WATCH | 'We paid too much,' for ArriveCan, says auditor general:

Total cost of ArriveCan app 'impossible to determine,' AG finds

7 months ago

Duration 2:35

A new auditor general report has found the final cost of the ArriveCan app is "impossible to determine" due to what it says is poor financial record-keeping.

CBSAsaid previously the development and operation of the appcost an estimated $54 million.

Hogan estimates the project cost was $59.5 million but, as the report notes, she was only able to arrive at that figure based on the information available to her.

"We found that financial records were not well-maintained by the Canada Border Services Agency. We were unable to determine a precise cost for the ArriveCan application because of[the agency's] poor documentation and weak controls,"the report says.

The report says that 18 per cent of invoices submitted by outside contractors that worked on the app didn't have "sufficient supporting documentation" to accurately determine the cost of the project.

Hogan told the committee that the government "paid too much" for the project and that poor record-keepingcompromised accountability.

The report also notes that the CBSA has estimated that $12.2 million of the $59.5 million estimate could have been unrelated to ArriveCan.

Hogan said she was unable to determine what was included in spending on the app and what wasn't. She saidthat the actual cost of the app could be higher or lower than the $59.5 million estimate.

"There could be amounts there that should not be linked to ArriveCan, but there also could be amounts that are linked to ArriveCan that were not flagged in the books," she said.

Government relied heavily on outside contractors

CBSA depended heavily on third-party contractors to develop the app. The report cites that reliance as a major factor inits ballooning costs.

Hogan's report suggests that a reduction in the use of outside contractors could have lowered costs and "enhanced value for money."

As an example, the report estimates that the per diem costs for external ArriveCan contractors was $1,090, while the average daily costof an equivalent internal position is $675.

The CBSA said in a statement Monday thatit's implementing the recommendations Hogan made in her report. The agency also argued that the app needed to be rolled out quickly at the start of the pandemic.

"The CBSA was working as quickly as possible to replace a paper process that was not meeting public health needs and was also impacting the border with significant wait times that disrupted the essential flow of people and goods," the statement said.

WATCH | Poilievre blasts government over ArriveCan costs:

Poilievre criticizes use of outside consultants after ArriveCan report

7 months ago

Duration 1:48

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says a government led by him would cut down on outside consultants after Auditor General Karen Hogan's report on the ArriveCan app found a 'glaring disregard' for basic management practices.

Hogan told MPs on Monday that seeking outside help for the app at the start of the pandemic was "reasonable." But she said she would have expected less reliance on outside contractors as the project continued.

"We didn't see that transition, whether it be that the public service take over some of the operations of the application or that there be a transfer of some knowledge or skill," she said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blasted the government over the app's costs and accusedPrime Minister Justin Trudeau of "wasting [taxpayers'] money." He promised to cut back on third-party outsourcing if his party forms government after the next election.

"Public servants do the work more accountably and they do it more affordably," Poilievre told reporters outside the House of Commons on Monday.

"We're going to save money by reversing Trudeau's doubling of outsourcing."

WATCH | ArriveCan contracting practice was 'unacceptable,' says LeBlanc

ArriveCan contracting practice was 'unacceptable,' says LeBlanc

7 months ago

Duration 2:44

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he's glad the auditor general has drawn attention to the 'lack of rigour in the contracting process' for ArriveCan.

Responding to questions from reporters on Monday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said ArriveCan's "contracting process was unacceptable."

Pressed to statewhetherthe Liberal government takes any responsibility for the process, LeBlanc said italready hasstartedcorrective measures.

"The Trudeau government accepts thattaxpayers' money needs to be treated with the utmost respect. In no way are we going to defending this particular contracting process," he said.

LeBlanc said he's confident that an ongoing CBSA investigation into the matter will root out any wrongdoing that occurred during the contracting process.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh blamed the rise in government outsourcing on both LiberalandConservative governments.

"This is the result of years of Conservatives and Liberals creating a system that allows wealthy consultants to procure government contracts and make millions in profits at the expense of our professional public service and Canadian taxpayers," he said in a media statement.

Firm influenced criteria for contract it was later awarded

There is also little documentation to show why or how the biggest contractor GC Strategies was chosen for the project.

The company is a two-person consulting firm thatadvertises itself as being able to help companies navigate the government's procurement process.

GC Strategies was given a sole-sourcecontract in April 2020despite a lack of evidence that the firm provided a proposal document for the project, the report says.

Hogan notes that at least one other firm provided an initial proposal for the same contract.

WATCH | AG says firm shouldn't have been involved in developing contract criteria:

Outside vendor 'likely limited competition' in ArriveCan proposal process, auditor general says

7 months ago

Duration 1:31

Auditor General Karen Hogan says GC Strategies' involvement in the request for proposal process for Arrive Can likely led to very 'restrictive and narrow' selection criteria that allowed only the consulting firm to respond to the proposal request.

The report indicates that the auditor general couldn't determine which government official made the final decision to select GC Strategies for the April 2020 contract.

And Hogan also found that GC Strategies was later involved in developing requirements that were later used for a competitive contract. That contract valued at $25 million was awarded to GC Strategies, the report says.

"In our view, flaws in the competitive processes to award further ArriveCan contracts raised significant concerns that the process did not result in the best value for money," the report reads.

A previous reportby Alexander Jeglic, Canada's procurement ombudsman,found that the criteria used in awarding the $25-million contract were "overly restrictive" and "heavily favoured" GC Strategies.

Jeglic also found that GC Strategies "copied and pasted" government-listed requirements for subcontractors on numerous occasions when submitting proposals to CBSA officials.

Speaking to reporters following her appearance at committee, Hogan echoed Jeglic'sconclusionthat the requirements for the $25 million contract heavily favoured GC Strategies. Hogan noted that GC Strategies was ultimately the only firm to bid on the contract.

"[The requirements] were very restrictive and narrow, which likely limited competition," she said.

"That kind of involvement by an outside vendor in a competitive process should not happen."

CBSA officials invited to 'dinners and other activities'

Hogan's report also raised concerns about CBSA officials having a close relationship with certain contractors, noting that the officials in question were invited "to dinners and other activities."

Those officials did not disclose information about these invitations to their supervisors, which she said "created a significant risk or perception of a conflict of interest around procurement decisions."

The report notes that further investigation of these findings was not pursued because they are subject to ongoing investigations by the CBSA and theRCMP.

The CBSA has been conducting an internal investigation of the ArriveCan contracts. Agencypresident Erin O'Gorman told the House government operations committee last month that the investigation's preliminary findings caused her great concern.

O'Gorman said the investigation found "a pattern of persistent collaboration between certain officials and GC Strategies. They show efforts to circumvent or ignore established procurement processes and roles and responsibilities."

O'Gorman cautioned that the investigation is still ongoing, but a copy of the preliminary findings was provided to MPs on the committee last week.