The Home of Commons Authorities Operations and Estimates Committee will meet at the moment to debate launching a examine of federal authorities contracts with consulting agency McKinsey and Firm.
This got here after stories surfaced that McKinsey’s federal contract income had risen underneath the Liberals in comparison with Stephen Harper’s Conservative authorities.
This week, the federal government confirmed that Public Companies and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has awarded McKinsey 23 contracts totaling $101.four million since 2015, up from the $2.2 million spent underneath Harper.
At the moment’s assembly was requested by members of the Opposition Committee, with the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois and New Democrats all saying they wish to see the committee study McKinsey’s federal authorities contracts.
Following calls from the opposition to probe McKinsey’s relationship with the federal authorities — in addition to questions concerning the consulting agency’s affect on authorities coverage and criticism that the federal government is losing federal funds by forgiving what public service might obtain — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced final week he has requested two ministers to “evaluate” the treaties.
In accordance with a press release from Procurement Secretary Helena Jaczek’s workplace, of the $55.eight million contracts awarded by the Liberals “have been awarded by open, aggressive bidding” whereas 18 contracts have been awarded $45.6 million “on-demand” ups in opposition to a nationwide master-standing providing designed to permit entry to proprietary benchmarking methodologies supplied by the non-public sector.”
“These providers encompass practical instruments, databases and professional assist to benchmark their efficiency in opposition to related Canadian and worldwide organizations to establish deficiencies and alternatives for enchancment,” the assertion mentioned. “Such providers can be utilized to assist advanced packages, together with digital modernization and different large-scale transformation initiatives.”
The assertion provides that because the federal authorities’s major purchaser, PSPC is dedicated to an “open, honest and clear procurement course of.”
McKinsey mentioned in a press release final week the corporate complies with procurement legal guidelines and its work with the Canadian authorities is “utterly neutral by nature and centered on key administration points akin to digitization and operational enchancment.”
The assertion added that the corporate “doesn’t make any coverage suggestions” on any subject and that it “welcomes the chance” to work with the committee on the problem.
If the committee votes to launch that examine, Conservative chief Pierre Poilievre mentioned final week he hoped such an inquiry would search all written information associated to the consultancy, together with emails and textual content messages.
“It is about time Canadians obtained solutions,” Poilievre mentioned on the time. “We have to know what that cash was for, what influence McKinsey has had on our authorities, and it is about time Canadian taxpayers had solutions to these questions.”
NDP MP and ethics critic Matthew Inexperienced mentioned in a press release on Tuesday that his social gathering would “search for solutions” on the committee assembly, notably after the PSPC introduced it had paid McKinsey way more than was initially reported she had granted them.
“We now know that the Trudeau administration gave McKinsey a lot public cash that it will be tantamount to turning McKinsey right into a division of the Canadian authorities,” Inexperienced mentioned.