AG fires workers for federal side hustles

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signalled that his Liberal government is rethinking how it evaluates and accepts proposals for work following the recent firing of two public servants who were making side money from federal contracts.

The office of Canada’s auditor general said on Wednesday that it had fired two employees and is investigating a third after discovering they were earning money through federal contracts and had failed to disclose that to their managers.

Karen Hogan’s office isn’t providing details about the contracts or what departments issued them, only saying they weren’t with the auditor’s office. The National Post first reported the story.

“We have seen procurement processes and contract processes within the public service are sometimes unacceptable,” Trudeau said Wednesday in Calgary. “That’s why we have launched investigations and are rethinking how the public service does procurement and does contracting.”

Trudeau said Canadians have a right to expect that governments — at the political level and non-political level — “are responsible and efficient stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

“And that’s why we are taking this so seriously,” he said.

The auditor’s office said it had initiated an internal investigation of the workers in June of last year and concluded one case in September and the other in December.

“Based on the results of the investigations, the OAG revoked the individual’s security clearance and terminated employment. OAG employees are required to have a valid security clearance,” said Natasha Leduc, spokesperson for the auditor general’s office, in a statement.

Those two cases were referred to the RCMP in January, and Mounties advised the auditor general’s office to bring them to Ottawa police the next month.