SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT — A year ago, the brouhaha in the Ottawa bubble swirled around federal contracts awarded to McKinsey & Co. — Refresh: Controversy focused on a jump in the value of contracts awarded to the multinational consulting firm — from C$2.2 million under STEPHEN HARPER’s government to C$101.4 million during Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s tenure. The value of “professional services” awarded to Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Accenture, KPMG and Deloitte was also notable: At least C$368.8 million since 2018. Trudeau directed two Cabinet ministers to launch a review into the McKinsey contracts. A final report was published in June. It landed with a whimper after Parliament rose for summer. The national conversation at the time was absorbed by wildfires. Without a stronger political hook, wider discussion and introspection about Canada’s public service and the government’s penchant for contracting out work was kicked down the road. — Today’s hot potato: Now, the ArriveCAN fiasco is the new poster child for public purse mismanagement and bureaucratic dysfunction. Auditor General KAREN HOGAN will be back at the House public accounts committee this morning as MPs continue their study of her scathing audit for a pandemic-era app a U.S. state Democrat once praised as an example of digital border technology that was coming for the Canada-U.S. frontier. Hogan’s audit outlined the contours of a scandal, trying to determine how a C$80,000 project could spiral into a C$59.5 million mess — and that’s based only on records her office was able to recover. The ArriveCAN contracts, among the other major red flags raised in Hogan’s audit, “did not result in the best value for money.” — Clip it: Conservatives are calling it “ArriveScam” and launched a data-grabbing petition, asking people to give their names, emails, postal codes and numbers if they agree that there should be an investigation. The app is one “Canadians’ didn’t want, didn’t need, and that didn’t work,” states the petition. TRUDEAU, meanwhile, alluded to the Canada Border Services Agency’s separate ArriveCAN investigation on Tuesday, promising heads will roll if warranted, but specifically in bureaucratic ranks. “It is obvious that the contracting process rules were not followed in this case, and we need to make sure that there is accountability and transparency around that,” he told reporters at a rainy press conference in Vancouver. “There are investigations and there will be consequences.” — Whose head: Conservatives want a political sacrifice. During Tuesday’s House public accounts committee, Conservative MP LARRY BROCK asked Public Health Agency of Canada President HEATHER JEFFREY if she agreed with him that Trudeau and Cabmins are responsible for the ArriveCAN mess. “The governance of the ArriveCAN project was managed within the public service and as deputy head of the public health agency, I take responsibility for its management,” Jeffrey said. — Political plays: Over the weekend NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH and Bloc Québécois Leader YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET joined forces on "Tout le monde en parle" to share how their political calculus as kingmakers in the minority government has shifted as the ArriveCAN mess is added to a list of Liberal controversies. The Bloc wants the government to launch an independent investigation, rather than having CBSA investigate itself. Singh agreed it’s ultimately the government, not public servants, who are responsible for how taxpayers’ money is managed. “The Bloc will never keep the Liberals in power,” Blanchet said en français. “Keeping the Liberals in power is not my agenda,” adding that if Trudeau falls, he falls. Asked if the NDP will continue to honor its deal with the Liberals to prop up the government in confidence votes, Singh responded with a cryptic, “We will see.” Blanchet later made a cheeky comment likening Singh to a chihuahua barking at a window, a non-threatening sight easily ignored by passersby.
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