Hello,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government’s approach to building and maintaining the ArriveCan app through contracts and subcontracts tied to a two-person staffing firm is “highly illogical” and he has asked for a review by the Clerk of the Privy Council.
The Globe and Mail reported Monday that GCstrategies – the two person Ottawa-area staffing company that has received millions of dollars in federal commissions on IT projects – subcontracted its work on the ArriveCan app to six other companies, including multinationals such as BDO and KPMG.
At a news conference in Toronto, Mr. Trudeau was asked why the federal government can’t hire these companies directly or perform IT work in-house, rather than paying millions in commissions to the small staffing company.
“That’s exactly the question that I just asked of the public service,” Mr. Trudeau replied. “Obviously, this is a practice that seems highly illogical and inefficient. And I have made sure that the Clerk of the Privy Council is looking into procurement practices to make sure that we’re getting value for money and that we’re doing things in a smart and logical way. Of course, during the pandemic, speed was at an essence, helping people quickly was at an essence. But there are principles that we should make sure are sound moving forward.”
Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry reports here.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT CANADA’S AI APPROACH - Canada has leading AI experts. But does Ottawa have the right plan to support an AI industry? Many leaders in Canada’s innovation sector say the government’s strategy to build on the country’s early lead in AI is emblematic of how Ottawa routinely fails to leverage the country’s brains to produce economic growth. Story here.
INTEREST RATE HIKE COMING FROM BANK OF CANADA - The Bank of Canada is widely expected to deliver a final quarter-point interest rate increase on Wednesday before pausing its historic monetary policy tightening cycle. Story here.
NO E-MAIL CONTACT BETWEEN ALBERTA PREMIER’S STAFF AND CROWN: INVESTIGATION - The Alberta government could not find “evidence of e-mail contact” between any member of Premier Danielle Smith’s staff and the province’s Crown prosecution service, after a weekend investigation sparked by an allegation someone in her office tried to persuade officials to rethink cases tied to a border blockade. Story here.
LIBERAL CABINET RETREAT UNDERWAY IN HAMILTON - The continuing affordability crunch and the threat of a looming recession will be front and centre as the federal Liberal cabinet holds a post-holiday cabinet retreat this week. Story here.
SCHOLARS SEEK INDEPENDENT SPORT INQUIRY - Dozens of Canadian and global sport scholars, in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, have joined the chorus in calling for an independent inquiry into sport in Canada, saying Canadian athletes deserve better. Story here.
ALMOST $100M SPENT ON HOTELS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS - The federal government has spent almost $94-million since the last election booking entire hotels for months to accommodate an influx of asylum seekers entering Canada, according to an access-to-information request. Story here.
OTTAWA REACHES $2.8B DEAL ON RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS SUIT - The federal government says it has come to a $2.8-billion agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by two British Columbia First Nations related to the collective harms caused by residential schools. Story here.
LEGAULT CRITICIZES TRUDEAU - Quebec Premier François Legault is criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “attacking Quebec’s democracy and people” by proposing to limit the use of the notwithstanding clause. Story here.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK SPENDING UNDER SCRUTINY - Multimillion-dollar contracts awarded by the Business Development Bank of Canada to consulting firm McKinsey, coupled with some unusual spending choices — including a decision to fly a private chauffeur to B.C. to drive the Crown corporation’s president around — are raising eyebrows within the BDC, sources say. Story here from CBC.
GOVERNMENT, UNION TURNING TO MEDIATION IN DISPUTE - The Treasury Board and the Public Service Alliance of Canada have agreed to mediation in a contract dispute involving 11,000 federal public servants working in technical services. Story here from CTV.
END NEAR FOR OTTAWA INSTITUTION - Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reports here on the looming end of an institution in the nation’s capital.
THIS AND THAT
HOUSE ON A BREAK – The House of Commons is on a break until Jan. 30.
FEDERAL LEADERS UNITED - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put aside their political differences Sunday to participate in Vancouver’s Lunar New Year parade. There’s a photo here. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and B.C. Premier David Eby were also part of the lineup.
MINISTERS ON THE ROAD - As members of the federal Liberal cabinet attend a retreat in Hamilton, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was in the city neighborhood of Mount Hope, with Filomena Tassi, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath to make a funding announcement at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, in Barrie, Ont., was scheduled to make an announcement on supports for tourism and community infrastructure for Barrie and surrounding area. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser was scheduled, in the community of Sturgeon Falls, to make a funding announcement on Canada’s Francophone Immigration Strategy. Justice Minister David Lametti made an announcement in Hamilton on federal support for vulnerable youth. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, in Sarnia, Ont., was scheduled to take media questions after presentations from local clean technology companies.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Toronto, held private meetings and toured a quantum computing and software company, accompanied by Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne. Mr. Trudeau took media questions. In Hamilton, Mr. Trudeau visited a local restaurant with Filomena Tassi, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and also the MP for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas. He also attended the cabinet retreat in Hamilton.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Vancouver, spoke to the AME Roundup mineral exploration conference, and held a news conference.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Campbell River, B.C., joined by MP Rachel Blaney from North Island—Powell River, hosted a roundtable for residents on the cost of living, toured the Campbell River Food Bank Society and then the Canadian Forces Base in Comox. Mr. Singh, with Ms. Blaney, was scheduled to meet with Comox Mayor Nicole Minions. In the evening, the NDP leader was scheduled to attend a meet-and-greet event with Gord Johns, the MP for Courtenay-Alberni.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Ottawa reporter Marsha McLeod discusses two bills now before Parliament trying to strike down criminal code allowances for the physical discipline of children in certain circumstances. Ms. McLeod explains why the law exists, and the vocal groups who’ve fought to keep it on the books. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute here to Jaspreet Pandher, an outreach adviser, who spent several years on his team. “He worked hard, spoke thoughtfully, and always knew exactly how to make people laugh,” Mr. Trudeau wrote in a tweet.
PUBLIC OPINION
PRIME MINISTER’S RESIDENCE - Two-thirds of Canadians surveyed by the Angus Reid Institute say recent federal governments have failed to maintain the prime minister’s residence “because they are afraid of the public backlash.” Details here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Vancouver is ready to build new housing in old no-grow zones, but the plan is too timid: “The ideal policy solution is a big shakeup: scrapping outdated restrictive zoning rules so that many new homes of all types can be built across cities – quickly. This would end interminable approval processes, such as rezoning, where existing owners oppose change. The owner of a house does not own the neighbourhood, nor should they have a veto over what is built near their house. The buzzword is “missing middle” housing. It’s the right idea but its meaning is a wide range, from two or four units of housing on lots currently reserved for one- to four-storey apartment buildings. As the housing crunch has worsened, cities like Vancouver and Toronto have warmed to the missing-middle slogan – but are still overly cautious. There remains, for one example, a deep reluctance or flat-out refusal to consider apartment buildings with homes of two and three bedrooms for families in neighbourhoods of detached homes.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how ArriveCan contracting wasn’t that bad. It was worse: “It seemed pretty bad. A column three months ago criticized Ottawa for its handling of the ArriveCan app, which included paying hefty commissions to a two-person company, GCstrategies, simply for contracting the IT people who actually did the work.It noted that the federal government has a whole department for contracting and its own IT units, yet issued $44-million in contracts over two years to GCstrategies to bring in the people to do IT work on ArriveCan and other projects.But it now turns out that was wrong: The government did not pay GCstrategies to bring in the IT workers. They paid them to pay other companies to bring in the IT workers.”
Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how seeking asylum is a human right so why are we treating it as the opposite: “Canadians must not be smug or complacent about our own response to forced migration. We deserve credit for our unique community sponsorship of refugees, and we take pride in our reputation as a country that respects human rights. But we tend to overlook serious issues resulting from our own policies. As documented by Human Rights Watch, thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have been detained by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in recent years, often in abusive conditions and sometimes in provincial jails. Many are held in immigration detention for extended periods – without having committed any crime – while awaiting the determination of their legal status. The many deaths that have occurred in detention, like that of Abdurahman Hassan, whose coroner’s inquest is ongoing in Ontario, illustrate the desperation and suffering migrants and asylum seekers often endure. Just last month, on Christmas Day, another person died in immigration detention in Surrey, B.C.”
Jen Gerson (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the `Just Transition’ fracas is just noise for now: “But when I actually looked into the plans for the “Just Transition” legislation, I didn’t see anything worth getting particularly worked up about – at least not yet. All I see is another small-scale boondoggle in the making: a garden-variety package of federal incompetence that is more likely to waste cash on feel-good programs than effectively shut down the oil and gas sector.”
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Ian Bailey