Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, we know that Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost but we also see that he has a hard time with transparency and accountability.

On Tuesday, the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, announced the suspension of contracts with three companies caught up in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, investigation of “ArriveScam.” First, why only the CBSA? These companies have several contracts with many Trudeau departments at all levels of government. Second, why was it only done now? Why not when the RCMP investigation began? Why not when the whistle-blowers, more than two years ago, brought this information to public light?

Last week, when Minister Blair was before this committee, he promised to get back to us in regards to Dalian contracts in his very own department. Why does it take days and weeks to get simple information from this government? Are you able to provide this chamber information in regard to whether the Department of National Defence, or DND, and Minister Blair’s suspending of its contracts with Dalian, CORDEX and GC Strategies will occur? It’s a simple yes or no. When will we cancel the contracts with these companies?

Senator Housakos: You can avoid some RCMP investigations if your government were forthcoming with transparent information.

During testimony in the House of Commons last week, we heard that the order to go with GC Strategies was given from above. We also heard that the person who carried the water for the government and gave this order got a promotion without any public tender or any public or competitive process.

My question is very simple: Did this promotion happen because this person helped Liberal insiders line their pockets? At the end of the day, why should decent, law-abiding citizens always get caught up in Liberal scams?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, yesterday, we heard scathing testimony in the House of Commons committee looking into the ArriveCAN outsourcing scam. The former director general of the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, accused his superior of lying to the committee, in particular about who made the decision to go with GC Strategies. He testified that he had recommended Deloitte, but he was told that they were put in the penalty box. He said he was told by his superior that the decision comes from above.

The only people, Senator Gold, that the director general’s superior has above are the President of the CBSA and the minister himself. Who of the two decided to bypass not just the hundreds of IT experts in the public service but also Deloitte in favour of whichever Liberal insiders lined their pockets through GC Strategies?

I’m sure we’re all concerned, senators, aren’t we?

Who gave the order, Senator Gold? Was it the President of the CBSA, or was it the minister? Who gave the order?

Senator Housakos: What else is new? This former director general also testified that when he left the CBSA, the price tag he costed for ArriveCAN was $6.3 million. He said he was shocked at the news that it had ballooned to over $54 million — another Canadian realizing Justin Trudeau is just not worth the cost.

Was that a result of putting Deloitte in the penalty box in favour of GC Strategies? Shouldn’t the person who made the decision be held accountable, Senator Gold? Don’t we believe in accountability? Who took this decision, and why aren’t you interested in holding that person to account?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, over the last two years, your government paid a company called GC Strategies over $164 million for IT work. It is the same company responsible for the $54-million ArriveCAN app. This company has two owners but no employees. Neither of those two owners do any IT work. They subcontract all the work, and, of course, that’s a practice that allows the government to hide key information from public scrutiny.

Senator Gold, who in the Trudeau government made the decision to hire this company? Who in your government thought that the height of the pandemic was the time to go with a small, unproven company — with no employees and no expertise — to develop an app that you keep describing as being so pivotal in the government’s response to COVID? To which members of the Trudeau government are these insiders connected?

Senator Housakos: Rapid decisions are welcome, but transparent, accountable decisions in Parliament are more welcome.

Senator Gold, we now know that another company that secured a contract with your government blew the whistle on the irregular practices associated with the GC Strategies and your government as early as September 2021. Why did your government ignore the warnings of these whistle-blowers and continue to outsource even more work to GC Strategies to the tune of an additional $17 million? Is that why your government also now refuses to cancel these unreasonable fines that were levied to Canadians through ArriveCAN? Is it because Liberal insiders just need to get paid?