House passes motion calling on Trudeau to recoup ArriveCan funds
Opposition parties teamed up Wednesday to pass a motion calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to collect and recoup, within 100 days, all funds paid to ArriveCan contractors and subcontractors that did no work.
The non-binding motion from Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre passed by a vote of 170 to 149, with only the Liberals voting against it.
The motion also calls on the federal government to table in the House by March 18 a report that details all direct and associated costs related to ArriveCan.
Among the line items the opposition parties want to see, but have yet to be revealed, are any bonuses given to public servants who worked on the app, any legal or research costs, and any adverting or public relations expenses.
The push comes amid a simmering controversy on Parliament Hill over the federal government's management of the contentious COVID-19-era border application.
A series of questions has been raised, damning reports issued, and further investigations have been sparked regarding improper contracting and management practices.
Among them was Auditor General Karen Hogan's recent audit that concluded Canadians "paid too much for this application," even though she could not establish if the $59.5 million total, amounts to the true cost.
Poilievre's motion specified that he'd like to see the funds recovered within 100 days, and for Trudeau to "table a report in the House demonstrating that taxpayer funds have been repaid."
When the issue was raised in the House on Wednesday, the prime minister said while he agrees that what has transpired with the app was "unacceptable," the Conservatives are politicizing an issue that the relevant authorities are already "looking into."
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