A heavily redacted version of the ArriveCan document, which was filed with a House committee in December 2022, is “hindering” the MP’s investigation into the app’s $54 million price tag, said Conservative, who is also chairman of the committee. Party MP Kelly McCauley said.
“I am very concerned that the documents have been redacted so that the government can no longer know what they are actually buying and how many. rice field. earth and mail.
“I suspect the committee will probably submit another motion requiring the unredacted document.”
Government contracts and development costs associated with the ArriveCan app are currently being reviewed by the Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO), which launched an investigation into the matter in October 2022.
On October 17, the Commission requested the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to publish a list of ArriveCan’s subcontractors and invoices by October 31, but the federal agency did not approve the invoices. Due to the delay in the translation, I missed the deadline.
CBSA President Erin O’Gorman told the commission on November 14 that it did not have a list of subcontractors who worked on ArriveCan.
“We only have information about people who have direct contracts with CBSA or PSPC. [Public Services and Procurement Canada],” she said.
O’Gorman’s comments came after a majority of members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of Auditor General Karen Hogan on November 2 for a detailed review of the federal government’s $54 million spending on apps. 2 weeks later it was served.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is a member of the OGGO committee that studies costs and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, told the globe He believes the CBSA should provide documents that provide unredacted descriptions of the services provided by individual contractors.
“We need a clear picture of exactly what was paid in each case, and we support requests to receive that information in unredacted form,” Housefather said. The information is … subject to confidentiality by the Commission and not to the public.”
Commission work
The OGGO Commission voted federally for ArriveCan’s costs after a motion filed by McCauley in October was amended to remove a section requiring at least five ministers to be present before the Commission to face questions. I have not asked the Minister yet.
In an earlier interview with The Epoch Times, McCauley said the decision was “a blow to transparency.”
“For taxpayers who are spending this much money on relatively small apps, this is another blow,” he said on Oct. 17.
CBSA said in an earlier email that the government spent just $80,000 to create and launch the ArriveCan app in April 2020. Operations and maintenance, upgrades, technical support, and other requirements over the past two years have increased his total to $54 million., a CBSA spokesperson said Sandra Boudreau.
“ArriveCAN is more than a simple information sharing app, it is a secure trading tool using industry standards,” she wrote on Oct. 17.
Congressman OGGO Committee I asked former CBSA President John Ossowski on December 8th about ArriveCan’s costs and contracts.
Mr. Ossowski, who served as chairman of the CBSA, said: 2016 Until then June 2022told the committee it was unclear whether the initial development work for ArriveCan was done in-house or outsourced.
‘Would the version we have now be made for less money?’ asked a Conservative MP Michael Barrett.
“As we look back on it, I’m sure there will be something the department will be happy to hear as we move forward,” Ossowski replied.
“In hindsight, I can say that we were moving very quickly.”
Peter Wilson is a reporter based in Ontario, Canada.