PACP Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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Minutes of Proceedings
Kelly McCauley moved, — That, given the fact that,
• GC Strategies, a two-person company, that does not perform any actual work but exclusively subcontracts contracts they acquire, has received $59 million in taxpayer dollars from 2017 to present; and
• despite government promises to reduce outside contract spending the recently released supplementary estimates (C) show an increase in contract and services spending of $1.2 billion
That the committee initiate a six-meeting investigation concerning the value for money the Government has obtained through contracting GC Strategies and that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.
To facilitate its investigation, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), the committee order the production of all contracts between GC Strategies and the Government of Canada from 2017 to 2022 in an unredacted format.
The witness list include the following:
1. All GC Strategies employees (Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony)
2. All federal departments and agencies that hired GC Strategies from 2017 to present:
· Department of National Defense
· Department of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
· Department of Innovation Science and Industry
· Courts Administration Service
· Treasury Board Secretariat
· Department of Families, Children and Social Development
· Global Affairs Canada
· Canada Border Services Agency
· Department of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
· Office of the Secretary of the Governor General
· Department of Natural Resources
· Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
· Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
· Department of Public Safety Canada
· Department of Transport Canada
· Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada
· Public Services and Procurement Canada
Additionally, the Ministers of the aforementioned departments and agencies are invited to appear alongside their departmental contracting agencies.
Niki Ashton moved, —
That the motion be amended:
(a) by adding, after the words “has received $59 million in taxpayer dollars from 2017 to present; and” the words “decades of unchecked spending on outsourcing – which accelerated in 2006 – has cost Canadians tens of billions of dollars while creating a shadow public service that works alongside the real public service—but without the same hiring practices or transparency requirements ; and,”
(b) by replacing the words “six-meetings” with the words “two-meetings”;
(c) by adding, after the words “has obtained through contracting GC Strategies” the words “– and through the practice of contracting and sub-contracting since 2006 –“
(d) by replacing the words “between GC strategies and the” with the word “with”
(e) by replacing the word “2017” with the word “2006”; and
(f) by deleting the words after point 2 and replacing with the words “And any other witnesses that the committee deems fit to call.”
.Niki Ashton moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.
The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Valerie Bradford, Iqra Khalid, Brenda Shanahan, Ryan Turnbull, Jean Yip — 6;
NAYS: Kelly McCauley, John Nater, Jake Stewart, Julie Vignola — 4.
Jake Stewart moved, — That the committee call on the Auditor General of Canada to audit the National Capital Commission’s 8 million dollar Barn project.
At 11:20 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:21 a.m., the sitting resumed.
At 11:21 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:21 a.m., the sitting resumed.
At 11:22 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:22 a.m., the sitting resumed.
At 11:23 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:28 a.m., the sitting resumed.
Brenda Shanahan moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “8 million dollar Barn project” with the words “storage maintenance facility and the impact of deferred maintenance on federal heritage building in he national capital region”.
The question was put on the amendment of Brenda Shanahan and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Valerie Bradford, Iqra Khalid, Brenda Shanahan, Ryan Turnbull, Jean Yip — 6;
NAYS: Kelly McCauley, John Nater, Jake Stewart, Julie Vignola — 4.
After debate, the question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Valerie Bradford, Iqra Khalid, Kelly McCauley, John Nater, Brenda Shanahan, Jake Stewart, Ryan Turnbull, Jean Yip — 9;
NAYS: Julie Vignola — 1.
The motion, as amended, read as follows:
That the committee call on the Auditor General of Canada to audit the National Capital Commission’s storage maintenance facility and the impact of deferred maintenance on federal heritage building in he national capital region.
At 12:04 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 12:11 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.
The committee resumed consideration of a draft report.
At 1:01 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.