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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 301

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien (La Prairie, BQ)
  • Apr/17/24 5:26:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the witness said earlier that he had altered two resumés, but only after contracts were awarded. Is that correct?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:26:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure he said that. I was there, I heard him. I do not understand why he is claiming that he did not say it. Earlier, a Conservative asked him if he had altered two resumés and he said yes, but after he was awarded contracts. Did I mishear that?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:27:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, so he did not say that he altered the resumés after the contracts were awarded?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:27:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the witness told us earlier that public servants received all kinds of compensation, but only after contracts were awarded. That is what he told us.
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:27:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, the member for Terrebonne asked whether Mr. Firth has ever given any money, benefits in kind, gifts to public servants. The witness said that he had, but only after the contracts were awarded. Is that accurate?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:28:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the witness mentioned earlier that he had picked up the tab at restaurants or things like that for public servants, but he did that after the contracts were awarded. Is that true?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:29:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to the witness, the public servant is the client. Is that it?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:29:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, is it possible that when emoluments are given after a contract, they are given before another contract?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:29:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there was mutual support between several people like the witness. Is that it?
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Context: House Hansard - 301 - Apr/17/24
Mr. Alain Therrien
  • Apr/17/24 5:29:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if I may, I will draw a conclusion based on what we have heard today. There is nothing unusual in having the Canada Border Services Agency do business with GC Strategies and give it $19 million, without ascertaining that GC Strategies' employees have any exceptional skills or the skills needed to obtain or disclose a contract. We also have to consider it acceptable for public servants to receive gifts, although it is unclear whether this occurs before or after the contracts are awarded. We also have to accept that GC Strategies helps draft calls for tenders because the Canada Border Services Agency lacks the skill to identify its own needs and criteria when it comes to developing calls for tenders. That is very disturbing. We are being asked to believe that paying someone $84,000 for nothing is normal. The witness actually said that he had not done anything to earn this $84,000, but that it was normal. Now people are wondering whose fault it is. Perhaps the Canada Border Services Agency is to blame. This may be the tip of the iceberg, but it is not normal. The Auditor General noted that it was the worst record-keeping she had ever seen. That is not normal. Now the Canada Border Services Agency is working on an import registration system, known as CARM. The House of Commons committee has found a number of irregularities. It is worrisome that this agency is continuing its work after what we have heard today. Let us focus more on the Canada Border Services Agency and the government's responsibility to ensure that that agency is put under third-party management and that steps are taken to recover the taxpayer money that was spent for reasons we do not understand.
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