Presently, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has not reported any information regarding ArriveCan to the RCMP. This is because the federal department is still internally investigating to determine if criminal activity has occurred. Catherine Poulin, the assistant deputy minister of PSPC’s departmental oversight branch, made these remarks while speaking before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) on February 21.
Poulin informed the committee that PSPC is collecting and analyzing all the information presented to them. This includes the conclusion of the report from the auditor general, as well as information from the Government Operations Committee. Responding to Conservative MP Larry Brock’s suggestion that proper analysis is the job of the RCMP, Poulin indicated that PSPC is not ignoring any scenarios. If evidence of criminal activity is discovered, the matter will then be referred to the RCMP for investigation.
The report of the auditor general found that PSPC, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and Health Canada did not follow appropriate management and contracting practices when developing the ArriveCan app. The report stated that key records surrounding development processes, as well as financial decisions, were missing. Further, the report estimated the app’s cost at $59.5, but stated that due to documentation failures, the actual price tag could not be established with certainty.
The audit also determined that GC Strategies was paid $19.1 million for work on ArriveCan, while Dalian and Coradix received a total of $7.9 million. In 2023, the RCMP confirmed that it was investigating the potential misconduct of these companies in relation to their involvement with ArriveCan.
Additionally, the RCMP received a letter from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre calling for an expansion of the criminal investigation into the contracting practices of businesses involved in ArriveCan. According to Sgt. Kim Chamberland, the RCMP is assessing the available information and will take appropriate action.