Bill Curry
While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Bill Curry.
Ottawa to work with Canadian cloud providers after industry pushback over U.S. shortlist
Federal officials are working on a plan to direct more cloud computing contracts toward Canadian companies after receiving strong industry pushback over an existing competition to shortlist a small number of American multinationals for similar work. When asked about the internal criticism revealed in government documents, Shared Services Canada spokesperson Michael Gosselin said the department “is in the initial planning...
Calls mount for Carney to fire Liberal candidate who said Conservative should be turned in to earn Chinese bounty
Calls are mounting for Liberal Leader Mark Carney to fire Toronto-area candidate Paul Chiang, who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong. NDP candidate Jenny Kwan urged Mr. Carney to drop Mr. Chiang for his comments on Conservative candidate Joe Tay. “He...
Ottawa spent record amount on outsourcing despite vow to rein in practice
Federal spending on outsourcing reached a record high of $17.8-billion last year, despite the Liberal government’s vow to cut back on the use of outside help. It’s an increase of 13.5 per cent over the previous fiscal year. Spending in the broad category of professional and special services – which includes contracted work in categories such as lawyers, architects, training...
A Carney Liberal leadership win would produce a political rarity: A PM who is not an MP
Canadian politics could be heading for an extremely rare situation: a prime minister who doesn’t have a seat in the House of Commons. While the ultimate result is unclear, Mark Carney is currently leading the pack of Liberal Party leadership candidates in terms of high-profile endorsements. Should he emerge as the winner when the results are announced on March 9...
Ottawa ignored warnings about Indigenous procurement program, former program auditor says
A former auditor for the federal government’s Indigenous procurement program says Ottawa hamstrung auditors and repeatedly ignored warnings that the program was being abused by non-Indigenous companies. Garry Hartle was one of the auditors who regularly reviewed whether companies complied with a federal policy designed to encourage the flow of government contracts to Indigenous-owned businesses. He served as an auditor...
Ottawa could reap $9-billion from surpluses in public-service pension fund, projections show
Ottawa could potentially reap a $9-billion boost to its bottom line over the next few years, federal documents show, thanks to a growing surplus in the pension fund for public servants, prompting a standoff with unions over what should be done with the windfall. Treasury Board President Anita Anand upset the major public-sector unions earlier this week when she announced...
Ottawa to announce border-security measures in coming weeks
The federal government is expected to announce border-security investments in the weeks ahead, either through the fall economic statement or separately if parliamentary gridlock continues, a senior government official said. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that Ottawa is prepared to pump more money into the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the...
More than half of Canadians say Trudeau should be replaced as Liberal Party leader, poll shows
A new poll shows a majority of Canadians say the Liberal Party should be led by someone other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the next election, with only 24 per cent saying he should stay on. The Nanos Research survey conducted for The Globe and Mail asked whether Mr. Trudeau should lead the Liberals in the next election or...
Ottawa disputes ArriveCan contractor’s claims in response to lawsuit
The federal government is disputing an IT staffing firm’s claims in a lawsuit that says it has been unfairly suspended from government contracting because Ottawa is trying to distract from negative publicity over its handling of the ArriveCan app. Coradix Technology Consulting Ltd., which was among the main contractors on the federal app project, filed a lawsuit in May seeking...
Ottawa refers three new cases of alleged contracting ‘time theft’ to RCMP
The federal government has referred three new cases of alleged contracting fraud to the RCMP and said further referrals can be expected as part of a continuing review of potential fraudulent billing by private contractors. Officials described the situation to MPs as “time theft” involving cases where subcontractors are alleged to have billed multiple clients with direct government contracts for...
Poll shows Canadians have generational divide on new federal spending
Canadians are divided over whether the Liberal government should target specific age groups for new spending in the fall economic update, with more than a quarter of respondents to a new poll saying there should be no new spending at all. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said she and her team are working on a fall economic update but a...
Senior officials reject allegation that employee linked to ArriveCan was told to lie to investigators
Senior federal Procurement Department officials are rejecting accusations from an employee linked to the controversial ArriveCan project that they pressed her to lie to internal investigators. The Globe and Mail has reviewed a recording of a key conversation between the two managers and the employee and it does not contain any clear reference to not telling the truth.
NDP defends use of Palestinian flag on Montreal by-election flyer
Conservative MPs attacked the NDP Sunday over a Montreal by-election flyer that shows the NDP candidate in front of a Palestinian flag, criticism the NDP quickly dismissed as ludicrous. Several Conservative MPs and staffers posted the campaign image showing NDP candidate Craig Sauvé in front of a Palestinian flag, which the NDP confirmed was used on the cover of a...
Federal government planning sharp cut to low-wage stream of temporary foreign worker program, sources say
The federal government is planning to sharply cut the low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker program back to prepandemic levels, government sources say, amid criticism of its growing use by Canadian employers. Reliance on the low-wage stream has shot up since 2022, when Ottawa agreed to ease access to the program in response to calls from restaurant owners and...
MPs vote to obtain recording of ‘hostile’ investigative interview as part of ArriveCan study
Members of Parliament studying the ArriveCan controversy voted unanimously Thursday to order the government to hand over a recording of a three-and-a-half hour internal investigation interview that one public servant described this week as a hostile hearing where she felt pressured to provide false evidence.
Trudeau’s office declines to comment on letter from Liberal MPs requesting national caucus meeting
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office declined to comment Sunday on a letter signed by several MPs calling for an immediate in-person national caucus meeting to discuss the party’s surprising by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s. A small group of MPs sent the letter to Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan on Friday requesting the immediate meeting to discuss what they call the...
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark calls for Justin Trudeau to be replaced
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to be replaced and suggested MPs begin having private conversations with the Liberal Leader about the party’s electoral prospects if he stays on. In an interview with The Globe and Mail Thursday, Ms. Clark said Monday’s by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s is a sign for the Prime Minister that...
Two former Liberal ministers say Trudeau should resign following Toronto by-election loss
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing calls from two Chrétien-era Liberal cabinet ministers to step down as party leader, with the former MPs pointing to this week’s midtown Toronto by-election defeat as further evidence of a strong desire for change among Canadian voters. Wayne Easter said in an interview Wednesday that Mr. Trudeau and his team of senior advisers in...
Multiple criminal investigations into federal contracting underway, RCMP reveals
The RCMP is conducting more than half a dozen criminal investigations into federal contracting, the national police force revealed Tuesday. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme and Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn provided the new details during an appearance before the House of Commons committee on public accounts, which is holding hearings into Auditor-General Karen Hogan’s February report on contracting issues related to...
Auditor-General finds ‘frequent disregard’ for contracting rules in Ottawa’s McKinsey spending
Federal departments and Crown corporations showed a “frequent disregard” for contracting rules as they awarded global consulting firm McKinsey & Company more than $200-million in contracts since 2011, often without an open competition, Auditor-General Karen Hogan reported Tuesday.
Border agency director said he regrets accepting contractor’s invite to ArriveCan whiskey tasting
A federal border agency director said he regrets being among a small number of agency officials who accepted an invitation to a virtual whiskey tasting organized by primary ArriveCan contractor Kristian Firth. The public accounts committee, which is holding hearings into the Auditor-General’s February report into the costs of the ArriveCan app for international travellers, heard for the first time...
Three firms tied to ArriveCan app got $1-billion in federal contracts, Ottawa reveals
Three government contractors involved in developing the ArriveCan app have received hundreds of federal contracts worth more than $1-billion over the past 13 years. Until now, the federal government has not been able to provide a clear breakdown of how much contract work the three companies have been awarded. The new numbers were provided to MPs on the public accounts...
Internal review of federal contracting uncovers $5-million in fraudulent billing by private contractors, Ottawa says
An internal review of federal contracting has found nearly $5-million in fraudulent billing by three private subcontractors, prompting the government to refer the cases to the RCMP, announce a new Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance and tighten conflict of interest rules for public servants.
ArriveCan vendor won Defence contract on the day founder joined public service
Dalian Enterprises, one of the vendors hired by the federal government to work on its troubled ArriveCan app, was awarded a contract from the Defence Department the same day its founder started working at the department as a full-time public servant. Dalian founder David Yeo told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that he started leading an IT project team as...
ArriveCan faces more scrutiny as Public Sector Integrity Commissioner opens investigation
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Harriet Solloway is launching an investigation into alleged wrongdoing related to the ArriveCan app, as well as accusations that two former border agency officials faced reprisals after criticizing their superiors. The commissioner’s investigation is the latest among nearly a dozen completed or active reviews related to the government app and broader issues involving how Ottawa awards...
ArriveCan contractor says its president joined public service after app work was complete
ArriveCan contractor Dalian Enterprises says its president, David Yeo, became a Department of National Defence employee only last year after work on the app was complete and set up a conflict of interest screen so that he would not be involved in the company’s interactions with his new employer.
Mayors concerned Trudeau won’t deliver promised long-term infrastructure deal in 2024 budget
Canada’s mayors are expressing concern that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won’t deliver a promised long-term infrastructure deal in the upcoming 2024 federal budget. Fifteen big city mayors – including Olivia Chow of Toronto, Jyoti Gondek of Calgary and Scott Gillingham of Winnipeg – were in Ottawa Monday as representatives of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities met with fed
Poilievre said MPs from other parties should have voted against millions for ArriveCan as costs grew
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says MPs in other parties should have voted against ArriveCan’s growing costs when they had the chance, pointing to $25-million worth of specific spending items tied to the government app that Parliament approved during the pandemic. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Poilievre also said a future Conservative government would bring in “a...
Officials could seek repayment from ArriveCan contractors, MPs told
Internal investigators at the federal procurement department are reviewing contracting concerns related to ArriveCan and officials told MPs Wednesday they are prepared to seek repayment from private contractors if they’ve overbilled. Public Works and Government Services officials also said they are scaling back the use of sole-source contracting and vowed to increase scrutiny over what the government is actually buying...
Suspended public servants ask court to block internal border agency probe
Two senior public servants who were suspended amid an internal investigation into contracting misconduct allegations at the Canada Border Services Agency have asked a judge to shut down that probe – which they say is unfair and biased – and order an independent third-party review.
RCMP studying ArriveCan report after meeting with top auditor
The RCMP says it is assessing this week’s Auditor-General’s report into spending on the federal government’s ArriveCan app, which found a troubling disregard for basic management practices and flagged concerns about interactions between private consultants and public servants. Auditor-General Karen Hogan also told MPs Wednesday that she met with the RCMP to discuss her report’s findings before it was released...
Liberal, Bloc, NDP MPs suspend ArriveCan hearings after reading ‘scary’ secret report
Liberal, Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs suddenly suspended parliamentary hearings related to ArriveCan and contracting misconduct allegations Wednesday after reading what one Liberal described as a “scary” secret preliminary report by a federal investigator. The three parties say any further hearings could put at risk investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency, which produced the report, and the RCMP...
ArriveCan bids regularly listed subcontractors who never did work, procurement watchdog finds
An investigation of ArriveCan spending has found outsourcing companies repeatedly won contracts by listing subcontractors who ultimately did no work, one of many findings that led the federal procurement ombudsman to conclude contracting rules were not followed. The report specifically singles out contract work by two-person IT staffing company GCStrategies, saying the company frequently failed to prove that its proposed...
Procurement review examining prevalence of inflated résumés after misconduct allegations against three IT firms
Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says his department is examining whether there is a widespread problem throughout government with inflated résumés as part of its review of three IT staffing firms facing allegations of wrongdoing related to their work on federal contracts.
Auditor-General asked to provide update on ArriveCan audit after RCMP, CBSA confirm probes linked to app
Auditor-General Karen Hogan has been called to give an update on the status of her ArriveCan audit, after The Globe and Mail reported that both the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency are investigating misconduct allegations related to a project with links to the controversial app.