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Toronto Sun
12-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Federal contracting is a complete mess
Alexander Jeglic, Procurement Ombud, poses for a photo in downtown Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia The federal government spends $37 billion annually buying goods and services from outside contractors, and according to two financial watchdogs of government spending, the system for doing so is broken. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The latest criticism comes from federal procurement ombudsman Alexander Jeglic. In a report released last week, he said the procurement system has been broken for decades, lacks consistent rules for awarding contracts, has no coherent, government-wide way to identify poor contractors and lacks transparency. That comes on the heels of a report by federal auditor general Karen Hogan, who said fiascoes such as awarding a $60-million government contract to develop the ArriveCAN app that was supposed to cost $80,000 are widespread, across the government. In addition to wasting taxpayers' money, a broken federal contracting system invites fraud where contractors are paid for work they didn't do. It also exposes the system to political corruption, where those awarding the contracts are pressured to do so because of patronage, where politicians award contracts not on the basis of who is best to do the job, but as a reward to contractors favourable to the government, regardless of their ability. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Jeglic proposed five ways to address the problem. • Appointing a chief procurement officer to preside over the contracting process across the federal government. • Creating a government-wide registry identifying consistently poor contractors. • Developing one, universally applicable set of procurement rules across the government. • Using artificial intelligence to streamline the procurement process by eliminating redundant or straightforward tasks. • Creating a transparent database, keeping track of what the government is buying and how and where it buys it. By contrast, Hogan recommended no new rules for contracting, saying there are plenty of rules, but the problem is that those in government awarding these contracts often fail to follow them. We'd add vigorous criminal prosecution where fraud is identified and demoting and firing civil servants who consistently fail to follow contracting rules. If the template for awarding $37 billion annually to federal contractors for providing services to the government is broken, then the system will continue to be wasteful and inefficient, no matter how much money is being poured into it. In a time of skyrocketing federal deficits and repeated fiascoes in government spending, nothing will change unless these problems are addressed. Toronto & GTA Columnists Relationships MLB Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
28-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: The financial risks of ‘nation-building'
Prime Minister Mark Carney attends the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS Now that Prime Minister Mark Carney's legislation to fast-track 'nation-building' projects has been approved, the concern is whether taxpayer money spent building them will be respected. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Nation-building projects are what governments used to call capital spending and we already know that Carney is planning to finance federal projects with more public debt. In his election platform alone, Carney identified $130 billion in new spending over four years with total deficit spending of $224.8 billion, 71% higher than what the Trudeau government said it would spend. The Carney government will also be green-lighting selected capital projects submitted by the provinces involving both public and private sector spending. The problem is we all know what happens when governments fast track public spending while ignoring the rules aimed at giving taxpayers good value for money. It ends in financial disasters such as the ArriveCAN app, developed during the pandemic, that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up at almost $60 million, according to Auditor General Karen Hogan. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She warned that the failure of public servants to follow contracting rules that led to the ArriveCAN mess is widespread across the government, based on her investigations of other contracts. The history of military purchases by the defence department alone is replete with financial fiascoes. In her recent report, Hogan estimated the cost of replacing Canada's aging fleet of CF-18 fighter jets with 88 new F-35s, increased by almost 50% between 2022 and 2024 from $19 billion to $27.7 billion. She said it happened because the government relied on outdated data and failed to develop contingency plans for managing financial risks associated with the project. Going forward, spending on the military is poised to skyrocket given Carney's commitment to meet Canada's NATO target of spending 2% of annual GDP on defence by March 31, 2026, rising to 5% by 2035 at an added estimated cost of $150 billion annually. Meanwhile, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux said he can't assess whether Carney's claim he will balance the operating budget in three years is credible because the government hasn't provided definitions of what it means by operational versus capital spending. Unless the government cleans up its act, we're facing years of billion-dollar boondoggles that we'll only learn about years after the fact. NHL Columnists Columnists Toronto Raptors Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Sun
13-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: ArriveCAN ban should be permanent
Ontario's border city mayors have joined their national and American counterparts in an open letter calling for the end of the ArriveCAN app requirements. Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star A scathing report by federal auditor general Karen Hogan this week slammed the government for failing to follow its own rules on procurement policies. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Hogan reported that generally, in the civil service, millions of dollars of contracts were awarded without the required checks and balances on whether workers had security clearances or even whether the work had been done. Last year, Hogan published an audit on ArriveCAN, the controversial and now largely unused app that was required for travel to this country during the pandemic. That report found the government didn't deliver value to taxpayers and three federal departments disregarded federal policies in awarding contracts. Last week, GCStrategies, the company at the heart of the ArriveCAN boondoggle, was banned from federal contracts for seven years. That seems a ludicrously small penalty given the shocking nature of the findings by the auditor about the company's role in the ArriveCAN controversy. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Conservatives have called for a lifetime ban on GCStrategies. That seems a more realistic penalty. We don't want to get taken to the cleaners again. 'It's a new Parliament, but we're dealing with the same old Liberal scandals,' Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis told the House on Thursday. 'They want to hide their scandals from Canadians, but the auditor general report is very clear. This Liberal government ignored the rules and allowed insiders to profit to the tune of $64 million.' The ArriveCAN app was originally supposed to cost $80,000, but that ballooned to about $60 million. Sure, it's a new government and a new cabinet. But we need a strong message from Prime Minister Mark Carney that he didn't just shuffle cabinet chairs on the Titanic. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Joel Lightbound, the new minister responsible for government procurement, told the House that in addition to the ban, they've terminated all GCStrategies' contracts and taken legal action. 'We referred cases to the RCMP because, Mr. Speaker, we will never tolerate misconduct from our suppliers or their subcontractors.' That sounds remarkably like shutting the vault doors after the tax dollars have flown. We await the police report with interest. Canadians are sick of seeing their tax dollars flushed down the toilet while vital services, such as defence, are underfunded. It's time to root out waste and mismanagement and start treating our tax dollars with respect. World World Canada Celebrity Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
10-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Government failed to follow procurement, security rules in GCStrategies
Published Jun 10, 2025 • 1 minute read Ontario's border city mayors have joined their national and American counterparts in an open letter calling for the end of the ArriveCAN app requirements. Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star OTTAWA — Canada's auditor general says federal organizations failed to follow procurement and security rules when awarding contracts to the company behind the controversial ArriveCan app. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The report on GCStrategies is one of several audits tabled in the House of Commons today. It says the company was awarded 106 contracts by 31 federal organizations between 2015 and 2024. The maximum value of those contracts was more than $90 million but only $65 million was paid out. Auditor general Karen Hogan looked at a sample set of contracts to see whether they fell in line with federal policy and whether the government got value for taxpayers' money. Her findings say many contracts did not follow procurement rules and organizations often provided little evidence to show the work had actually been done. Toronto Blue Jays World Relationships Editorial Cartoons Olympics
Toronto Sun
06-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Company that worked on ArriveCan app barred from government contracts for 7 years
Published Jun 06, 2025 • 1 minute read Ontario's border city mayors have joined their national and American counterparts in an open letter calling for the end of the ArriveCAN app requirements. Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star OTTAWA — Ottawa says it has banned the largest contractor that worked on the ArriveCan app from entering into contracts or real property agreements with the government for seven years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Public Services and Procurement Canada has announced that GC Strategies Inc. has been deemed 'ineligible' after an assessment of the supplier's conduct. Last year, the department suspended the security status of GC Strategies, which the auditor general says was awarded more than $19 million for the project. The federal government launched the app in April 2020 as a way to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to digitize customs and immigration declarations. On Monday, Canada's auditor general Karen Hogan is set to deliver an audit focusing on whether the contracts awarded and the payments made to GC Strategies and other companies were good value for money. Public Services and Procurement Canada says the government continues to take action to 'strengthen the integrity of the procurement process.' Olympics Columnists NHL Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons
