ArriveCan: the New Ad-Scam/Agha Khan/SNC-Lavalin/Chinese Electoral Interference/India Debacles/Ukrainian Nazi ...

When the entire global globe was put under house arrest lockdown and the hot spot of the latest virus was never restricted in any way, shape, or form, the Liberal government thought it best to further track Canadians' movements with ArriveCan, an app that would determine if quarantine was (by their estimation) necessary.

Needless to say, it did not work:

The ArriveCan program cost taxpayers millions more than originally feared amid widespread irregularities that were “the worst I have seen,” Auditor General Karen Hogan said yesterday. Hogan said crucial records were missing but did not comment on whether paperwork was destroyed to foil investigators. “Many of the questions you are asking just can’t be answered,” said Hogan.

More:

In a damning report released Monday, Canada’s auditor general found government departments kept weak records and had poor financial controls over the ArriveCAN App allowing costs to spiral and leaving even auditors unsure how much the app cost.

Auditor general Karen Hogan estimated that the Canada Border Services Agency spent $59.5 million on the cell phone app, but said she can’t be sure.

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“The Canada Border Services Agency’s documentation, financial records, and controls were so poor that we were unable to determine the precise cost of the ArriveCAN application. Using the information that was available, we estimated the cost at approximately $59.5 million,” she said in her report.

The app was meant to allow travellers to share information about their vaccination status as they crossed into Canada and speed up border controls. Hogan found nearly 20 per cent of the invoices connected to the project couldn’t be confirmed to be related to it.

“We found that 18 per cent of invoices submitted by contractors that we tested did not have sufficient supporting documentation to determine whether expenses related to ArriveCAN or another information technology project,” she said. “This made it impossible to accurately determine whether costs were attributed to the correct projects.”

In addition to the sloppy financial controls, Hogan found the app was not tested properly as 177 different versions of the app were rolled out between April 2020 and October 2022. Among those were 25 major updates and nearly half of those were released without any testing.

“We found little documentation showing that the Canada Border Services Agency completed testing prior to releasing new versions of ArriveCAN.”

The lack of tests led to one version of the app, released in late June 2022, sending more than 10,000 people into a 14-day quarantine.

Hogan grants in her report that the app was being set up in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when government departments were instructed to move quickly and bend contracting rules.

But she said she found that non-competitive contracts were extended over and over without any competitive bidding process. She found that GC strategies, which MPs studying the issue at committee have heard subcontracted out all of the work it was paid for, was awarded the first contract despite not having put in a proposal.

“The Canada Border Services Agency informed us that GC Strategies was awarded the contract on the basis of a proposal that it submitted,” she wrote. “We found that the agency received a proposal from one of the three potential contractors, but this proposal was not from GC Strategies. There was no evidence that the agency considered a proposal or any similar document from GC Strategies for this non-competitive contract.”

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Hogan found three contractors GC Strategies, 49 solutions, and KPMG were given $4.5 million through non-competitive contracts that were extended over and over again.

“Multiple amendments were made to those non-competitive professional services contracts. Approximately half of the contract amendments extended the contract beyond the original period, which prevented or delayed opportunities for other contractors to compete for work. These amendments also resulted in additional costs.”

Hogan also found that people involved in deciding who was awarded the contract were treated to dinners and other gifts that they did not disclose.

“We found situations where agency employees who were involved in the ArriveCAN project were invited by vendors to dinners and other activities,” she said “The agency’s Code of Conduct requires employees to advise their supervisors of all offers of gifts or hospitality regardless of whether the offer or gift was accepted. We found no evidence that these employees informed their supervisors as required.

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MPs will issue subpoenas compelling committee testimony from reluctant ArriveCan witnesses, the chair of the Commons government operations committee said yesterday. The committee “will call every witness and compel every document,” warned Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West).

 

There is a complete disregard for the taxpayer, his money, and even common decency.

In Canada, this is called Tuesday.