ArriveCan contractor Kristian Firth of GC Strategies has been censured for refusing to disclose names of secret contacts pertaining to its sweetheart deal to build the failed program. MPs pressed Firth to name names on Wednesday, as the Commons Government Operations Committee questioned him on the identity of a federal manager who invited Firth to dictate terms of his own contract, Blacklock’s Reporter reported. Firth testified for four hours under oath after being subpoenaed by the committee, which threatened to have him taken into custody by the Commons Sergeant-at-Arms after he previously ignored two other summonses in November and February. The committee unanimously voted to censure Firth after his “refusal to answer those questions which the committee agreed to put to him,” citing Firth’s “prevarication in answering” questions pertinent to the controversial pandemic-era government surveillance app. Committee chair Conservative MP Kelly McCauley noted that Firth’s “refusal to answer questions or failure to reply truthfully may give rise to a charge of contempt in the House.”GC Strategies was awarded a $25.3 million contract with “overly restrictive” terms over 40 other competitors in 2022, according to a January 29 report by the Procurement Ombudsman. “Who did you sit at the table with?” asked Conservative MP Kelly Block.“Apologies, I have to speak with my lawyer,” replied Firth.“You are not going to let us know who it was you were meeting with as you were constructing a contract you knew you would end up getting?” asked Block. “That’s your words not mine,” replied Firth. “I am just saying right now as a result of this being pushed to the RCMP with all efforts of the committee behind it, unfortunately I cannot comment on an ongoing RCMP investigation.”Firth is under police investigation following complaints of numerous irregularities in contracting. SG Strategies, a two-man consultancy working from a private home in Woodland, ON, received a total of $107.7 million in contracts until it was suspended from bidders’ lists on February 14.“For the last month virtually everything reported about my company in the media and stated about me and my company has been false,” Firth protested under oath. “Everybody is lying and saying mean things about you,” said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis “The media’s wrong, the MPs are wrong. You’re also now saying the Auditor General is wrong. What are we as a committee to make of the fact you want us to believe everybody is wrong?”Conservative MP Michael Barrett pointed out, “You are here only under the threat of arrest.”“That is what we are dealing with in trying to get answers from you,” said Barrett. “I think you have a grave misunderstanding of how this process works.”“Your refusal to answer questions here is a contempt of Parliament,” Barrett told the contractor. “That is something we can take up. I know you take great umbrage in the fact a subpoena had to be issued and that had you not appeared today a warrant would have been issued and you would have been arrested and brought before this committee.”Firth, when asked, confirmed he met privately with the former Department of Transportation Chief Information Officer Philippe Johnston, Treasury Board IT Manager Marc Brouilliard and two former Canada Border Services Agency executives, Director General Cameron MacDonald and Manager Antonio Utano.“Did you ever meet with Philippe Johnson in a private residence or any place other than a government office?” asked Barrett. “I have met with Philippe Johnson outside of work, yes,” replied Firth. When asked where, Firth confirmed they met at a pub in 2021 — a contradictory statement to one he made November 2 where he responded “No I have not” when Barrett asked him if he has “ever met with government officials outside of government offices.”Barrett expressed outrage when he responded to Firth’s admission on Wednesday and described him as a pathological liar. “Let me be very clear,” said Barrett. “In the Arrive-scam there are all kinds of players who play all kinds of different roles and you have demonstrated yourself to be a liar.”“You have lied before a parliamentary committee on multiple occasions,” stated Barrett. “It is not just contempt of Parliament but it is contemptuous of Canadians,” said Barrett. “They are lined up at food banks in record numbers and you are raking in millions off the backs of Canadians. Then when you are called to provide even just the smallest bit of accountability you laugh in Canadians’ faces. It’s disgusting.”Firth did not respond.
ArriveCan contractor Kristian Firth of GC Strategies has been censured for refusing to disclose names of secret contacts pertaining to its sweetheart deal to build the failed program. MPs pressed Firth to name names on Wednesday, as the Commons Government Operations Committee questioned him on the identity of a federal manager who invited Firth to dictate terms of his own contract, Blacklock’s Reporter reported. Firth testified for four hours under oath after being subpoenaed by the committee, which threatened to have him taken into custody by the Commons Sergeant-at-Arms after he previously ignored two other summonses in November and February. The committee unanimously voted to censure Firth after his “refusal to answer those questions which the committee agreed to put to him,” citing Firth’s “prevarication in answering” questions pertinent to the controversial pandemic-era government surveillance app. Committee chair Conservative MP Kelly McCauley noted that Firth’s “refusal to answer questions or failure to reply truthfully may give rise to a charge of contempt in the House.”GC Strategies was awarded a $25.3 million contract with “overly restrictive” terms over 40 other competitors in 2022, according to a January 29 report by the Procurement Ombudsman. “Who did you sit at the table with?” asked Conservative MP Kelly Block.“Apologies, I have to speak with my lawyer,” replied Firth.“You are not going to let us know who it was you were meeting with as you were constructing a contract you knew you would end up getting?” asked Block. “That’s your words not mine,” replied Firth. “I am just saying right now as a result of this being pushed to the RCMP with all efforts of the committee behind it, unfortunately I cannot comment on an ongoing RCMP investigation.”Firth is under police investigation following complaints of numerous irregularities in contracting. SG Strategies, a two-man consultancy working from a private home in Woodland, ON, received a total of $107.7 million in contracts until it was suspended from bidders’ lists on February 14.“For the last month virtually everything reported about my company in the media and stated about me and my company has been false,” Firth protested under oath. “Everybody is lying and saying mean things about you,” said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis “The media’s wrong, the MPs are wrong. You’re also now saying the Auditor General is wrong. What are we as a committee to make of the fact you want us to believe everybody is wrong?”Conservative MP Michael Barrett pointed out, “You are here only under the threat of arrest.”“That is what we are dealing with in trying to get answers from you,” said Barrett. “I think you have a grave misunderstanding of how this process works.”“Your refusal to answer questions here is a contempt of Parliament,” Barrett told the contractor. “That is something we can take up. I know you take great umbrage in the fact a subpoena had to be issued and that had you not appeared today a warrant would have been issued and you would have been arrested and brought before this committee.”Firth, when asked, confirmed he met privately with the former Department of Transportation Chief Information Officer Philippe Johnston, Treasury Board IT Manager Marc Brouilliard and two former Canada Border Services Agency executives, Director General Cameron MacDonald and Manager Antonio Utano.“Did you ever meet with Philippe Johnson in a private residence or any place other than a government office?” asked Barrett. “I have met with Philippe Johnson outside of work, yes,” replied Firth. When asked where, Firth confirmed they met at a pub in 2021 — a contradictory statement to one he made November 2 where he responded “No I have not” when Barrett asked him if he has “ever met with government officials outside of government offices.”Barrett expressed outrage when he responded to Firth’s admission on Wednesday and described him as a pathological liar. “Let me be very clear,” said Barrett. “In the Arrive-scam there are all kinds of players who play all kinds of different roles and you have demonstrated yourself to be a liar.”“You have lied before a parliamentary committee on multiple occasions,” stated Barrett. “It is not just contempt of Parliament but it is contemptuous of Canadians,” said Barrett. “They are lined up at food banks in record numbers and you are raking in millions off the backs of Canadians. Then when you are called to provide even just the smallest bit of accountability you laugh in Canadians’ faces. It’s disgusting.”Firth did not respond.
