GC Strategies partner pleads ignorance while being questioned by MPs looking into ArriveCan
One of the partners at GC Strategies said Thursday he didn't know the answers to a number of questions posed by MPs on a parlia‐ mentary committee study‐ ing the ArriveCan contro‐ versy.
GC Strategies was one of the contractors that worked on the pandemic-era project, which the auditor general es‐ timates cost just under $60 million.
Darren Anthony, a partner at GC Strategies, was appear‐ ing before the House govern‐ ment operations committee. His partner, Kristian Firth, ap‐ peared separately on Wednesday.
Anthony told the commit‐ tee in his opening statement that he had little to do with ArriveCan beyond filing the security clearances for the company's subcontractors.
"I will answer all questions for which I have the knowl‐ edge to answer as best I can," he said.
"Firth handled all projects related to Covid and pan‐ demic response, so I have very little to offer as insight into this committee's current work."
After his opening state‐ ment, Anthony said he didn't have answers to several questions asked by MPs about GC Strategies, includ‐ ing ones that didn't specifi‐ cally touch on the ArriveCan app.
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NDP MP Taylor Bachrach asked Anthony what his role in the company is in relation to Firth. Anthony replied that he was a vice president of the company and that while he is only responsible for the contracts he signs, he and
Firth are "50-50 owners."
"What is your fiduciary re‐ sponsibility as an owner of the company? Is it only for your contracts or is it for the corporate entity?" Bachrach asked.
"I don't know the answer to that," Anthony replied. He stuck with his answer when Bachrach asked him again.
"I find that astounding," Bachrach said.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett asked Anthony who had provided the testimoni‐ als posted on GC Strategies' website. Barrett was refer‐ ring to a number of endorse‐ ments from anonymous gov‐ ernment officials, including an unnamed vice president of a "major Crown corpora‐ tion" and an assistant deputy minister.
"You're saying the 'vice president of a major Crown corporation' - who that per‐ son is, is a mystery to you?" Barrett asked.
"That's correct," Anthony replied.
When Barrett asked An‐
thony if the endorsements on the company's website were fake, Anthony said he had "no idea."
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During his own testimony, Firth refuted the auditor gen‐ eral's report, which said GC Strategies had been awarded roughly $19 million for its work on ArriveCan.
Firth said that the com‐ pany had instead received closer to $11 million for Ar‐ riveCan and blamed the dis‐ crepancy on the governmen‐ t's poor record-keeping. In her report, Auditor General Karen Hogan noted that the total cost of the project was "impossible to determine" due to the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) bookkeeping.
Anthony said he agreed that Hogan's report was inac‐ curate. But when Bachrach asked if he had read the re‐ port, Anthony said he hadn't.
When Bachrach asked how he could dispute Hogan's findings if he hadn't read the report, Anthony said he agreed with Firth's assess‐ ment.
After Bachrach's ques‐ tions, Conservative MP Larry Brock grilled Anthony for not reading the auditor general's report.
"How on earth could you have prepared any less for this hearing by not taking 20 minutes to read the actual report? I find it absolutely as‐ tonishing, sir, and quite fran‐ kly it reflects very poorly on your credibility," Brock said.
Hogan said she found lit‐ tle in the way of documenta‐ tion to show how or why GC Strategies was chosen to work on ArriveCan.
Hogan also reported that GC Strategies was involved in developing requirements that were later used for a competitive contract. That contract - valued at $25 mil‐ lion - was awarded to GC Strategies, the report says.
The report also raised concerns about CBSA officials having a close relationship with certain contractors, not‐ ing that the officials in ques‐ tion were invited "to dinners and other activities."
While Firth said Wednes‐ day that he had met with some government officials outside of working hours, An‐ thony said he wasn't involved in any hospitality events.