Glaring Disregard For Basic Management And Contracting Practices Surrounds Trudeau Government’s ArriveCAN Application

“Many questions that Parliamentarians and Canadians are asking (about the ArriveCAN app) cannot be answered. The lack of information to support ArriveCAN spending and decisions has compromised accountability.”                                                                                – Canadian Auditor General Karen Hogan

A News Release on a Report from the Office of Canada’s Auditor General

Posted February 12^th, 2024 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper – 

As a journalist who also happens to be a resident living near the Canada-U.S. border, I wonder how one remains composed after reading this scathing report on the costly mess that has become of the pandemic-related “ArriveCAN” requirements the Trudeau government forced on both Canadians and Americans wanting to cross the border until the final months of 2022.

This so-called ArriveCAN app with its online form to be filled out by cross-border travellers has proven to be far more costly than expected for Canadian taxpayers due to gross mismanagement by parties in and around the federal government.

According to numerous news accounts, ArriveCAN caused significant hardships for those doing business  in both countries and for the economies of border communities, and it created a good deal of hardship and heartaches for citizens wanting to visit close friends and relatives or check in on a property they owned on both sides of the border.

So much so that federal government representatives in on the U.S. side of the border and mayors of municipalities on both sides began begging the Trudeau government to have the ArriveCan requirement dropped.

The report the federal Auditor General’s Office released this February 12^th confirms growing evidence that the ArriveCAN app has costed Canadian taxpayers tens-of-millions of dollars more than was originally pledged.. It also leaves many questions about what kind of shenanigans may have been going on between government insiders and outside contractors in the development and management of an app that wasn’t gathering much more information, if any, than border officers could at the bridge crossings.

In summary, this ArriveCAN debacle  is one more mess that cannot help but inflame more public anger and erode  more public trust in government and its institutions. And that is not good when we see what is going on with all of the chaos around government south of the border.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

What follows  is the February 12th, 2024 News Release on the federal Auditor General’s Report –

Ottawa, Ontario —A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled today in the House of Commons concludes that the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development, and implementation of the ArriveCAN application.

The application was created to digitally collect traveler contact and health information when they entered Canada during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

The audit estimated that the ArriveCAN application cost approximately $59.5 million but emphasized that the exact cost was impossible to calculate because of the Canada Border Services Agency’s poor financial record keeping.

The agency’s decision to continue relying on external resources throughout the application’s development, launch and updates, beyond the initial pandemic crisis, increased costs and brings into question the value achieved for money spent.

The lack of documentation and controls extended to contracting practices. The audit found that the Canada Border Services Agency’s disregard for policies, controls, and transparency in the contracting process limited opportunities for competition and undermined value for money.

There was little documentation to support how and why GC Strategies was awarded the initial ArriveCAN contract through a non‑competitive process. Evidence indicated that GC Strategies was involved in setting the requirements that the Canada Border Services Agency later used to tender a competitive contract.

The audit found that Canada Border Services Agency managed contracts poorly, again raising concerns about value for money. Essential information, such as clear deliverables and required qualifications, was missing from contracts. Canada Border Services Agency routinely approved and paid invoices that contained little or no details on the work completed.

“Public servants must always be transparent and accountable to Canadians for their use of public funds”, said Ms. Hogan.” “Many questions that Parliamentarians and Canadians are asking cannot be answered. The lack of information to support ArriveCAN spending and decisions has compromised accountability.”

The 2024 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada, Report 1—ArriveCAN, is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.

The website for Canada’s Auditor General can be entered by clicking on – Office of the Auditor General of Canada (oag-bvg.gc.ca) .

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