procurement minister Helena Jaczek She will be on the hot seat during a House of Commons committee meeting on Monday, where she will face questions as part of an inquiry into a spike in contracts awarded to the consulting firm. McKinsey Since the Liberals were elected in 2015.
The House of Commons Government Operations and Estimates Committee agreed to launch a study into contracts after reports emerged that deals with McKinsey increased compared to when the Liberals were in power.
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Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was elected in 2015, the consulting firm has been awarded 24 contracts worth $104.6 million, according to data provided by Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Radio-Canada reported that the Conservatives awarded $2.2 million in contracts to McKinsey during that party’s nine years in power.
Following the reports, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for an investigation into the contracts awarded to the firm, a response the Government Operations and Estimates Committee voted on 18 January to launch the study.
“We want to know what all this money was for,” Poilevre said, speaking at a press conference early last month.
Poilievre also expressed concern about the firm’s potential influence, and Trudeau’s decision to appoint former McKinsey director Dominic Barton as his ambassador to China for two years ending in 2021. Did.
Barton testified before the Government Operations and Estimates Committee last week, where he expressed disbelief that he was being portrayed as a “puppet” of the Liberal government. He said he wanted to “give back” and “help” his country after living in Asia for decades when he was named ambassador.
The former ambassador also balked at suggestions from lawmakers that he is a personal friend of Trudeau or other top ministers, such as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Barton chaired the government’s Advisory Council on Economic Development in 2017.
“It was a professional relationship, there was respect, there were always people in the room,” he told the committee after reading into the record complimentary comments from Trudeau, Freeland and Morrow.
“I’m not a friend.”
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Meanwhile, Trudeau has assigned Jaczek and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier to look into the contracts awarded to McKinsey.
“We will follow up to make sure it was done correctly and to see if we need to modify or change the rules,” Trudeau said in mid-January, speaking in French.
When pressed on the issue during Question Hour last week, Jaczek said the government was “committed” to ensuring its contracts “meet up to the highest standards.”
“I will be testifying at the Government Steering Committee on Monday with my officials, and I look forward to answering the opposition’s questions more fully at that time,” she said.
Fortier, who was also pressed on the issue during Question Hour on 2 February, promised that he and Jaczek would “get to the bottom of it.”
“It is important to know that we are upholding the highest standards of openness, transparency and fiscal accountability,” Fortier said.
– With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton
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