Government will review McKinsey contracts, Trudeau says

The government will review $66 million worth of contracts it awarded to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

Speaking duringa news conference in Mexico City at the North American Leaders' Summit (NALS), Trudeau said he's asked Public Service and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek and President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortierto examine the contracts.

"I asked MinisterJaczek and Minister Fortier to do a follow-up and look closely at the numbers, and look at the circumstances that we heard about in the news,"Trudeau said in French.

WATCH|Treasury Board president open to House committee study of McKinsey contracts

Treasury Board president open to House committee study of McKinsey contracts

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"We'll look at how these [McKinsey] contracts have been done and we'll look at the recommendations," Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said on Power & Politics Wednesday. "I think we have to be fair and look at what will come out of that exercise."

Trudeau said the contracts were part of government efforts to modernize and improve public service delivery. He saidthe government is open to making changes if necessary.

"We will do a follow-up to make sure that it was done in the right way, and see if we need to modify or change the rules," Trudeau said.

Radio-Canada reported last week that the value of federal governmentcontracts with McKinsey has increased 30-fold since the Trudeau Liberals took office increasingfrom $2.2 million under Prime Minister StephenHarper to $66 million under Trudeau.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) alone accounted for$24.5 million of the contracts.

McKinsey, which employs30,000 consultants in65 countries, has often attracted controversy. It has advised authoritarian governments and has provided consulting services onboostingopioid sales. The Quebec and Ontario governmentsalso have employed the firm.

On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievrecalled on a House of Commons committee to investigate the government's use of McKinsey. In a statement sent to CBCNews Tuesday, McKinsey said its work is non-partisan and it doesn't make policy recommendations. The company saidit would appear before a committee if asked.

The NDP and Bloc Qubcoisalso denounced the contracts and called for transparency on the government's use of McKinsey.

The Trudeau government spent approximately $432 million on contracts with six largeprivateconsulting firms in 2021, according to data compiled by Carleton University professor Amanda Clarke.

In an interview airing Wednesday onCBC'sPower & Politics, Fortier said the government has contracted out some public servicework, in part because of human resource issues.

"Publicservants are able to do a lot of the work, and sometimes we need to contract it out because there's not enough of the expertise," Fortier told guest host Catherine Cullen.

Fortier said information technology is an area of particular concern when it comes to labour shortages in the public service.

Fortieradded the government is open to opposition parties' request for aprobe.

"If they do ask for it ...we will look into it," she said.

"I think that we have to be fair, and we have to look at what will come out of that exercise."