Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking Canada’s top bureaucrat to look into the controversial ArriveCAN app.
Trudeau this week said it was “illogical and inefficient” for the public service to give millions of dollars in contracts to a two-person firm that subcontracted out its work on the app, which was used to keep track of Canadians and visitors coming over the border during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published reports say the app could end up costing taxpayers $54 million. Critics have said the app could’ve been developed for a tiny fraction of that amount.
The CBC reports that “GCstrategies subcontracted out $8.3 million of $9 million in federal contracts related to the app’s development to six outside companies.”
Global News says GCstrategies “actually subcontracted the work to build it to six other companies including international firms KPMG and BDO — which then hired the IT workers to actually build the application.”
Trudeau was asked why the public service couldn’t hire those subcontractors or perform the work itself. “That’s exactly the question that I just asked the public service,” he said.
“It’s an atrocious abuse of public dollars,” NDP MP Matthew Green told the Globe and Mail.
The Prime Minister says the Clerk of the Privy Council, the top bureaucrat in Canada, is “looking into procurement practices” to “make sure that we’re getting value for money, and that we’re doing things in a smart and logical way.”
CANADIANS SUPPORT CHINA TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS, BUT NOT SURE THEY’LL HELP
In response to rising cases in China, Canada and other countries this month said that travellers from China must produce a negative COVID-19 test prior to takeoff.
Data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds a majority of Canadians support the policy, but they’re not sure if it will be effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19.
The Angus Reid poll found that Canadians who support the policy (77%) outnumber those who are opposed (16%) by nearly five-to-one.
However, those who believe the policy will be effective at reducing COVID-19 infections in Canada (34%) are in the minority. More Canadians believe it will be ineffective (38%) or are unsure (28%). And even among Canadians who support the policy, fewer than half (44%) say they believe it will be effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
There are other concerns with this policy. Some, including the Chinese government, have called it “discriminatory”. Others have gone further and called it “racist”. The pandemic has produced plenty of negative side effects, including discrimination and racism experienced by Canadians of Chinese descent. Some worry this new policy of testing travellers from China will rekindle those ugly sentiments.
One-in-eight (13%) Canadians call the policy racist. However, more (73%) believe it’s not. Canadians who identify as visible minorities are twice as likely to label the policy racist (23%) than those who don’t identify as such (10%). Still, majorities of those who identify as visible minority (62%) and those who don’t (76%) say the policy is not racist.
