RCMP has ‘multiple’ investigations into federal contracting, force says – National

The RCMP is conducting multiple investigations into federal contracting, although specific details were not disclosed by police officials.

This information follows a year of scrutiny regarding the federal contract for the pandemic-era ArriveCan app, sparking concerns about the process of awarding federal contracts.

“There’s a broad number of investigations concerning this type of activity,” Deputy Commissioner Mike Flynn informed the House of Commons committee on public accounts on Tuesday.

Responding to a query from Conservative MP Larry Brock, Flynn stated that the RCMP has initiated over six procurement investigations.

“When it comes to ArriveCan and similar situations, there are numerous investigations,” he acknowledged, without providing an exact count.

“Regarding ArriveCan, the RCMP can confirm that it is investigating all relevant matters to establish if any criminal offenses have occurred,” Commissioner Mike Duheme told the House of Commons committee on public accounts on Tuesday.

“Specific to ArriveCan,” Flynn added, “there’s one investigation solely focused on ArriveCan.”

The two commissioners declined to answer many questions from committee members, citing their inability to comment on ongoing investigations.

This includes previously disclosed information, such as the RCMP searching the home of a partner in the company responsible for the app. Both GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth and the RCMP have clarified that the search was unrelated to ArriveCan.

In a statement to Global News, the RCMP confirmed that they are “undertaking multiple investigations into procurement matters” but declined to provide further comments.

This is the latest development in a series of events dating back to the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic that have plagued the Liberal government.

An auditor general report revealed that the federal government spent nearly $60 million on the app, although exact figures were unclear due to inadequate record-keeping.

Firth and the other GC Strategies partner, Darren Anthony, have testified in front of committees. Anthony denied involvement in the app’s failures, while Firth refused to answer questions.

Firth was subsequently held in contempt of Parliament during a session in the House of Commons.

He clarified that he was not avoiding questions from MPs and issued a written apology.

— with files from Touria Izri and Sean Boyton

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