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The co-owner of GCStrategies agreed with his business partner’s assessment that the Auditor-General got it wrong as to how much their company was paid to work on the ArriveCan app – but also said he’s never read her report.
Darren Anthony appeared before the Commons government operations committee today to answer questions about Auditor-General Karen Hogan’s findings regarding his company.
The two-person company’s managing partner, Kristian Firth, appeared before the same committee yesterday. In that hearing, Firth disputed Hogan’s recent finding that his company received $19.1-million to work on the app project, saying it was closer to $11-million.
Firth said he invoiced the Canada Border Services Agency for about $22-million in work, but he disagrees with the Auditor-General as to how much of that should be attributed to ArriveCan versus other IT services.
Anthony said he agreed that Hogan’s conclusions were “incorrect” regarding his company. He was later asked if he had read the report. “I have not read it, no,” he said.
Full story by Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Bill Curry.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Canada relocating some diplomats from ‘volatile’ Haiti: “The security situation remains volatile,” Sebastien Beaulieu, Global Affairs Canada’s chief security officer, told reporters today.
Ottawa reveals it ordered national security review of TikTok in September: “This is still an ongoing case. We can’t comment further because of the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act,” a spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
Doug Ford sends list of requests to Trudeau ahead of Ontario, federal budgets: In four sections of a letter disclosed today, the Ontario Premier details a series of requests to the federal government, including matching Ontario’s commitment of more than $1-billion to build roads in the Ring of Fire region. Global News reports.
Quebec Premier to seek full powers over immigration at meeting Friday with Trudeau: Premier François Legault made his intention known today while responding to a question in the provincial legislature from Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, according to a report in The Montreal Gazette.
B.C. proposes law that would allow for targeting social-media firms for alleged harm: Attorney-General Niki Sharma says that if the legislation, introduced today, passed it would allow the province to use the courts for recovery of health-related costs associated with the promotion and distribution of products that are harmful.
In Gander, Nfld., Pierre Poilievre encourages rally attendees to press MPs over carbon-pricing hike: About 100 people showed up for the federal Conservative Leader’s visit to the central Newfoundland city this week, according to CBC.
New Zealand says it’s not questioning Canadian allegations on Nijjar after remarks by country’s deputy PM: The Indian Express newspaper this week reported comments from New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who asked for evidence to prove Canada’s allegations that India played a role in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in B.C. But the New Zealand government, asked for comment, said Wellington is not challenging Canada’s allegations.
Justin Trudeau and Danielle Smith hint at compromise over federal pharmacare proposal: The Alberta Premier wants Ottawa to revise its national pharmacare proposal while the Prime Minister indicated this week the federal government was open to negotiating separate pharmacare deals with each province.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“I want to thank you for your ongoing partnership as our governments continue to work together to deliver for the people we serve” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on a series of requests in various policy areas.
“I fully expect that person to soon join a Pierre Poilievre-led Conservative government” – Conservative MP Ed Fast, announcing his decision not to seek re-election, on his hopes for his successor as the Conservative candidate in his B.C. riding, soon to be named Abbotsford-South Langley.
“As much as the international community will continue to have a role to play, if we want a sustainable solution, it has to be led by Haitians themselves” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a news conference today in Windsor, Ont., on where responsibility lies in dealing with the challenges facing Haiti.
THIS AND THAT
Fast bowing out: Ed Fast, the Conservative MP for Abbotsford for the past 18 years, has announced he will not seek another term in order to open an opportunity for what he labels the “next generation of leader” to take the spot. Fast, who served as international trade minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, said in a statement that the party has assured him there is “no preferred candidate as some have suggested” for the nomination and he hopes party members are free to choose the next candidate.
Poilievre at dinner with Higgs: New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, a Progressive Conservative, says that federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will be attending his party’s leaders’ dinner in Saint John on Friday.
Commons, Senate: The House of Commons is on a break until Monday. The Senate sits again on March 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: Chrystia Freeland is in Ottawa, but has no public events scheduled.
Ministers on the road: Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is in the Italian city of Verona for a meeting with his G7 counterparts on industry, technology and digital issues. In the Nova Scotia town of Bridgewater, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced a clean-energy investment, and, in the town of Shelburne, held a roundtable with members of the Black community affected by environmental pollution since the 1940s. International Trade Minister Mary Ng, in Vancouver, announced federal funding for seven businesses. Later, she participated in a roundtable held by the Surrey Board of Trade on the Canada-US commerce relationship and issues faced by Canadian businesses in trade relations with the United States. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in Montreal, announced permanent funding to support Indigenous-led storytelling through the Indigenous Screen Office, including $65-million over five years starting in 2024–25 and $13-million a year afterward. Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, in the New Brunswick town of Oromocto, announced a $55.6-million plan to upgrade 255 buildings at the 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, as well as $19.7-million to construct a solar farm at the base. Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, in Saskatoon with Mayor Charlie Clark, announced funding for critical minerals development in Saskatchewan.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Justin Trudeau, in Southwestern Ontario, met with union workers, held a short media availability, and met with seniors.
LEADERS
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in Halifax, was scheduled to join federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault at a roundtable discussion with the Black community in Shelburne, N.S., on environmental racism.
No schedules released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
THE DECIBEL
Haitian political scientist Chalmers Larose, a lecturer at several Canadian postsecondary institutions, is on the Globe podcast today to unpack the security problems facing Haiti, what can be done about them, and whether international efforts could help. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Kim Rudd: The Liberal MP for the Ontario riding of Northumberland-Peterborough South from 2015 to 2019 died Tuesday of ovarian cancer, says an online obituary. She was 66.
OPINION
EVs shift into a higher gear
“EVs, which include battery electric and plug-in hybrids, accounted for 10.8 per cent of all new motor vehicle registrations last year. It’s a big number – prepandemic, in 2019, EVs market share was 2.9 per cent – but 10.8 per cent in 2023 is also a small number, still only a fraction of the total market.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
The ArriveCan of worms: Public-service problems spill out
“We haven’t got to the bottom of the ArriveCan debacle, but it sure has drawn out a host of other problems inside government.” – Campbell Clark
If the Trudeau Liberals are annihilated in an election, it will be over housing
“If the Trudeau Liberal government is annihilated in the next election, on an economic matter, it will be on carbon pricing but also broader, continuing inflation worries. And also concern about Canada’s GDP slumping on a per-capita basis. But mostly, housing.” – Kelly Cryderman
Haiti cannot wait another year for the U.S. and Canada to help
“In short, a year of U.S. and Canadian procrastination has led to nothing but more suffering and bloodshed in Haiti. It is hard to see how Haitians stand a fighting chance at order, much less democracy, without another United Nations-sanctioned peacekeeping force first restoring security to its streets.” – Konrad Yakabuski
We all deserve affordable homes and a stable climate – and that is achievable
“Many fitting tributes have been paid to the late former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Here I will only add that he championed an ambitious strain of politics, one that didn’t shy away from the challenges of the day, no matter how tough.” – Mark Carney
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