Poilievre calls for study of consulting company's earning spike under Liberal government
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a committee study of the government’s relationship with a consulting firm following reports it has been awarded 30 times more money in federal contracts under Justin Trudeau’s Liberals than Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
As previously reported by Radio-Canada and The Globe and Mail, McKinsey and Company made $2.2 million from federal contracts over the nine years Harper’s Conservatives were in power, compared to $66 million in six years under the Trudeau Liberals.
Poilievre is calling for an inquiry by the parliamentary Standing Government Operations and Estimates Committee, which would seek all written records related to McKinsey, including emails and text messages. He said he does not feel a full-scale public inquiry is required at this point.
“People can’t even pay their bills, yet there are companies linked to the Trudeau Liberals being awarded large contracts worth tens of millions of dollars,” Poilievre said at a press conference Tuesday.
Radio-Canada is also reporting the government department that has awarded the largest contracts to McKinsey is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Poilievre questioned the value of those contracts while there’s a backlog of about 1.2 million immigration applications, asking, “What did we get as Canadians? What are the results of this management company’s ingenious work?”
McKinsey said in a statement released Tuesday the company follows procurement laws and its work with the Canadian government is “entirely non-partisan in nature and focuses on core management topics, such as digitization and operations improvement.”
The statement adds: “Our firm does not make policy recommendations on immigration or any other topic,” and that the company is aware of calls for a parliamentary committee study into its work, an opportunity it welcomes.
Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet also held a press conference Tuesday to echo Poilievre’s calls for a committee study.
Blanchet said he’s particularly concerned about the lack of transparency in this case, and the risk of incurring added costs by hiring a private company to potentially do the work of the public service.
“The questions it raises for us are not around the international firm,” he said, “but rather, why did the Government of Canada hand over its priorities, through contracts, to a private foreign company?”
Poilievre also questioned former McKinsey global managing director Dominic Barton’s later appointment to Canadian ambassador to China, a position he left in 2021.
“It's time for Canadians to get answers,” Poilievre said. “We need to know what this money was for, what influence McKinsey has had in our government, and it is time for Canadian taxpayers to have answers to these questions.”
In a statement, NDP MP and ethics critic Matthew Green said the New Democrats are supportive of a committee study into McKinsey’s government contracts.
“Canada has a strong public service who can do this work at a fraction of the cost, so there’s no reason for Trudeau to choose to hand buckets of money to his billionaire CEO friends instead,” Green said. “Canadians have to be able to trust that their money is being spent to benefit real people.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek’s office wrote in a statement it maintains “the highest standards of openness, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.”
“We have not received a formal request from the government operations and estimates committee, but will work with the committee if a motion is adopted on the matter,” the statement also reads.
Michael Wernick — a former clerk of the Privy Council who now works as a consultant — said he can’t speak to the McKinsey case specifically because he is no longer in government, but that “all governments have contracted professional services going back as far as [he] can remember, for a variety of purposes.”
He added that sometimes the public service does not have the expertise in a certain area, citing the examples of cybersecurity and software development.
“It makes perfect sense to rent that expertise from outside from time to time,” he said.
With all opposition parties on the parliamentary committee in favour of launching a committee study, they’d have the votes required to begin such a study, next time they convene a meeting.
With files from CTV National News Ottawa bureau chief Joyce Napier and producer Ian Wood
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Some structural damage' from wildfire near Fort Nelson, B.C., mayor confirms
More than one home has been damaged or lost due to a massive wildfire outside of the B.C. community of Fort Nelson, the mayor confirmed Wednesday.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver says he got a cellphone ticket for using his points app in the drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
B.C. YouTuber ordered to pay $350K for 'relentless' online defamation campaign
An 'unrepentant' YouTuber has been ordered to pay $350,000 in damages as compensation for a 'relentless' campaign of defamation waged online against a business owner and his company, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia.
'Endless Shrimp' just one misstep for Red Lobster as it eyes bankruptcy protection
While it's unclear what these closures might mean for the 27 restaurants in Canada, Red Lobster is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. this month.
B.C. man shot sex worker in the back during drug-fuelled birthday, court hears
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
'Inhumane conditions': 68 dogs pulled from Winnipeg home
Nearly six dozen dogs were seized from a home Wednesday morning by the Winnipeg Humane Society. It is the largest known seizure of animals in the city’s history.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Of the $40-million Aiden Pleterski was handed over two years, documents show he invested just over one per cent and instead spent $15.9 million on "his personal lifestyle." The 25-year-old Oshawa, Ont. man was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering on Tuesday.
Driver said he smoked pot oil, took medication before Florida crash that killed 8 Mexican workers
A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday.
Local Spotlight
B.C. musician's song catches attention of Canucks
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
'We're on standby': Team ready to help entangled right whale in Gulf of St. Lawrence
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Thieves caught on camera stealing pet chicken from North Vancouver backyard
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Chris Hadfield inspires youth musical in Sudbury
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Wilfrid Laurier football player drafted despite only playing 27 games in his entire life
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.