Dominic Barton insists he's had no involvement in McKinsey's government contracts

Dominic Barton, McKinsey & Company's former global managing director, told a House of Commons com‐ mittee Wednesday he has played no role in the feder‐ al government's decisions to grant contracts to the consulting firm.

The Commons committee on government operations agreed to probe contracts granted to the consulting firm after Radio-Canada revealed that the Liberal government awarded $66 million in busi‐ ness to the firm — a number that rises to $100 million when new contracts, signed in recent months, are included in the total.

By comparison, the Con‐ servative government under former prime minister Stephen Harper awarded McKinsey $2.2 million in feder‐ al contracts while in power.

Questioned by MPs, Bar‐ ton insisted he had no in‐ volvement in any contracts granted to McKinsey over the past few decades.

"I had no involvement whatsoever in any awarding of paid work to McKinsey by the federal government since I relocated to Asia in 1996," he told the committee.

The Liberal government's relationship with Barton has come under scrutiny related to questions about the extent of the firm's influence on fed‐ eral policy.

Barton was the chair of an advisory council on economic growth for former finance minister Bill Morneau and lat‐ er served as Canada's ambas‐ sador to China.

WATCH | PM says former McKinsey director has 'served his country in many ways':

Since Parliament returned earlier this week following a six-week hiatus, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has used the McKinsey contracts as a line of attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals.

Speaking to re‐ porters Wednesday, Poilievre contrasted the contracts with the effects of the rising cost of living on Canadians.

"Not everyone is suffering. The high-price consultants are making off like bandits," he said.

Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie questioned

Barton about his relationship with Trudeau.

"Would you consider your‐ self a friend of the prime min‐ ister?" Kussie asked.

"No, I'm not a friend. I have a professional relation‐ ship [with him]," Barton said in response. "I don't have his personal phone number and I haven't been in a room alone with him."

WATCH | Barton faces parliamentary committee:

In his opening statement to the committee, Barton not‐ ed that he had acted as an ad‐ viser to the previous Conserv‐ ative government.

In an effort to put the de‐ bate to rest, Liberal MP An‐ thony Housefather followed Kusie's line of questioning by asking more about Barton and Trudeau's relationship. Housefather asked if Trudeau was one of his "50 best friends," if they exchanged birthday gifts, and if they had ever exercised together.

Barton answered "no" to all of Housefather's ques‐ tions. He insisted throughout the heated, two-hour long meeting that he had no per‐ sonal relationship with Trudeau. Barton also claimed the first time he met Trudeau was when he was in an eleva‐ tor on his way to meet with former Conservative finance minister Jim Flaherty.

WATCH | Liberal MP asks Barton about his relation‐ ship with Trudeau:

NDP says probe should be extended to other firms

MPs continued to press Barton on why McKinsey be‐ came so involved in the gov‐ ernment in recent years.

NDP MP Gord Johns — who brought for‐ ward a motion to expand the scope of the study to include other consulting firms — sug‐ gested that large companies have an inside track on gov‐ ernment contracts based on personal connections.

"What is McKinsey doing? Who does McKinsey know?" Johns asked, accusing both Liberal and Conservative gov‐ ernments of prioritizing the private sector over the public sector.

Barton insisted that gov‐ ernment procurement processes are rigorous and conducted by civil servants, not politicians.

Johns said he wants the study to include other consul‐ tancies — such as Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ac‐ centure, KPMG and Ernst & Young — to get a broader sense of public service out‐ sourcing.

"We need to look at the whole scope of this thing and we need answers and we need all of these companies before this committee," Johns said. "They need to explain how they're getting these contracts."

A researcher testifying be‐ fore the committee Monday called the focus on McKinsey a distraction.

Amanda Clarke, an associ‐ ate professor of public admin‐ istration at Carleton Universi‐ ty, said the study should fo‐ cus on the public service's re‐ liance on consulting firms overall.

"The focus on outsourcing and contracting in the federal government is the broad enough umbrella to get at these issues and any given firm," Clarke said.

The committee agreed to vote on Johns' motion next week.