“Experts have estimated that ArriveCAN could’ve been built in a weekend for $200,000. But instead, the Trudeau Government decided to waste $54 million in taxpayer dollars on this unnecessary and broken app.”
A Statement from Canada’s Conservative Party with a Foreword from Niagara At Large
Posted February 5th, 2024 on Niagara At Large
A Foreword from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large – Many of you may share ill memories of the ArriveCAN app that Canada’s Trudeau government went on and on burdening cross-border travelers with in our country and the United States with as the hot times of the COVID pandemic cooled down.
Federal representatives in the U.S. and mayors on both sides of the border spent many months begging the Trudeau government to scrap this unnecessary border-crossing “requirement” until it finally did scrap a tool that did little or nothing to assist border officers with the information they needed to decide whether individuals should be allowed entries into one or the other country. .
In the meantime, a computer app Canadian taxpayers were told would be relatively inexpensive to develop and operate ballooned into the tens-of-millions of dollars and now it appears we have what is repeatedly being referred to in major newspapers and broadcast reports as a scandal on our hands.
Regrettably, his is the kind of mess that is going to see growing numbers of Canadian voters move away from Trudeau and his Liberals and allow Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives to form a federal government that will quite likely be worse for us on national security, climate change, health care and a whole host of other issues.
For now, though, here is a statement from the federal Conservative Party on the growing controversy and investigations into the use and abuse the the ArriveCAN app –
Ottawa, Ontario – Kelly Block, Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Services and Procurement, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative Quebec Lieutenant, released the following statement on the investigation that revealed that 76 percent of ArriveCAN contractors did zero work on the $54 million app:
“A damning watchdog report has revealed that federal officials in the Trudeau Government rigged the ArriveCAN contract so it would end up with the well-connected, two-person consulting firm, GC Strategies. In total, these two individuals did not work on the app, yet received $11 million dollars from taxpayers.
“Multiple investigations into ArriveCan have revealed millions in taxpayer dollars sent to connected insiders and consultants. And that government officials have been suspended without pay for their involvement in the app and inappropriate relationships between government officials and contractors, and more, including GC Strategies hosting an “ArriveCAN Whisky Tasting” with government officials to celebrate the app.
“Since this scandal came to light, whistleblowers have been silenced and government officials have been suspended without pay for telling the truth at Committee. Now, as the allegation of corruption grows more severe, the RCMP has decided to investigate the contracts for potential criminality.
“Experts have estimated that ArriveCAN could’ve been built in a weekend for $200,000. But instead, the Trudeau Government decided to waste $54 million in taxpayer dollars on this unnecessary and broken app. Unfortunately for Canadians, these recent allegations of abuse are starting to make the extreme $54 million price tag make sense.
“Despite this fiasco surrounding GC Strategies, this two-person IT consulting firm has been awarded nearly $60 million in contracts from the Trudeau Government since 2017, even receiving contracts after they charged the Canadian taxpayer $11 million for the dysfunctional ArriveCAN app. Eight years ago, Trudeau promised to cut consultant contracts. This is just one more broken Liberal promise that Canadians are on the hook for.
”Canadians deserve transparency regarding how many consultants and well-connected insiders were awarded government contracts. In 2022, third-party consultants like GC Strategies, were awarded $17.7 billion in contracts, while ordinary Canadians are struggling to pay for groceries or heat their homes.
“It’s clear that the ArriveCAN scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. Common sense Conservatives will turn over every document and consulting contract to get to the bottom of the Trudeau Government’s abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
For more infomration, click on the screen below for a report from the citizen-based Canadian Taxpayers Federation –
For a report from the Globe and Mail, click on –Allegations against government official over events tied to ArriveCan ‘extremely concerning,’ Trudeau says – The Globe and Mail
For a National Post newspaper report on this issue, click on – Two owners of IT firm made up to $2.7 million for hiring team that helped build ArriveCan | National Post
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