MPs looking to have ArriveCan contractor rebuked by Speaker of the House of Commons

MPs are looking to bring an ArriveCan contractor be‐ fore the House of Com‐ mons to be formally re‐ buked by Speaker Greg Fer‐ gus.

On Friday, Fergus found there was a prima facie breach of MPs' privilege when GC Strategies' Kristian Firth declined to answer cer‐ tain questions during a com‐ mittee appearance earlier this month.

Following Fergus' ruling, Conservative MP Michael Barrett moved a motion call‐ ing on MPs to order that Firth appear before the bar of the House to be publicly admon‐ ished.

Barrett said that by refus‐ ing to answer MPs' ques‐ tions, Firth was "obstructing the work of Parliament and its committees."

"These are people who ca‐ sually make a mockery of Canada's House of Com‐ mons," Barrett said in refer‐ ence to Firth and GC Strate‐ gies.

Firth appeared before the House government opera‐ tions committee two weeks ago to testify about GC Strategies' involvement with

ArriveCan.

An auditor general report found that the soaring cost of the project - estimated at roughly $60 million - was in part due to the government's over-reliance on outside con‐ tractors like GC Strategies.

That same report found that GC Strategies was in‐ volved in developing require‐ ments that were later used for an ArriveCan contract. That contract - valued at $25 million - was later awarded to GC Strategies, the report says.

A separate report by Canada's procurement om‐ budsman found that the cri‐ teria used in awarding the $25 million contract were "overly restrictive" and "heav‐ ily favoured" GC Strategies.

During his committee ap‐ pearance, MPs repeatedly asked Firth which govern‐ ment officials he worked with to develop the criteria for that contract. Firth avoided those questions, citing an on‐ going RCMP investigation in‐ to ArriveCan, even though he said he hadn't been con‐ tacted by the police force.

Public admonishment be‐ fore the House is a very rare measure that has only been used five times since the ear‐ ly 1900s. It's referred to as being "brought before the bar" in reference to a brass rail meant to bar strangers from entering the chamber.

Former MPs Ian Waddell and Keith Martin were ad‐ monished by the Speaker in 1991 and 2002 respectively.

If Barrett's motion passes, Firth will be the third private citizen to be admonished since 1913. The most recent case was in 2021, when the then-president of the Public Health Agency of Canada ap‐ peared before the House af‐ ter the agency failed to turn over documents to a commit‐ tee relating to the firing of two scientists from the Na‐ tional Microbiology Labora‐ tory in Winnipeg.

Support for admonishing Firth appeared to be gaining support from all parties in the House of Commons. But one part of Barrett's motion stating that Firth must an‐ swer further questions when he appears before the House - raised concerns for some Liberal MPs.

Liberal MP Mark Gerret‐ sen questioned how Firth an‐ swering questions in the House would work.

"My concern about the manner in which [Barrett] has brought this forward is how we conduct this opera‐ tion, exactly," he said.

Gerretsen suggested that the House procedures com‐ mittee examine the issue and report back to MPs before Firth is summoned.

Barrett replied that proce‐ dures are in place to have the Speaker read written ques‐ tions provided by MPs.

"A further committee study, a further delay, are not what we need," Barrett said.

The House adjourned Friday before a vote on the motion was held. MPs will re‐ sume debate on Barrett's motion when the House re‐ turns on April 8.