Former Border Chief Testifies Over ArriveCan, Rejects Lying Accusation

John Ossowski, former head of the Canada Border Services Agency appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission, Nov.16, 2022 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

The former president of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) denied that he lied about meeting with a subcontractor at the centre of the ArriveCan scandal, saying he had simply failed to remember the meeting.

“I will begin by taking issue with repeated references to me having lied, fibbed, or been demonstrably dishonest,” former CBSA President John Ossowski said in his opening statement to the Public Accounts Committee on May 16.

“I corrected my testimony last October and I apologized for not remembering all those who attended a Teams meeting from three years ago. Not remembering is not lying,” said Mr. Ossowski, who headed the CBSA during the creation of the ArriveCan app.

Mr. Ossowski told the committee in 2022 that he had never met with Kristian Firth, managing partner of GC Strategies, a contractor on the ArriveCan app that ended up costing $59.5 million.

But following a report by The Globe and Mail that he and Mr. Firth had both attended a virtual meeting in September 2020 about a different subject, Mr. Ossowski testified in a later committee appearance that he had misremembered the event.

The RCMP has said they are investigating the contracting around the app, and raided Mr. Firth’s home last month.

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Conservative MP Kelly Block accused Mr. Ossowski of lying about not meeting Mr. Firth, saying that he should have instead said he couldn’t remember.

“It was based on my recollection,” Mr. Ossowski responded. “I answered too quickly. I should have gone to the agency afterwards and asked for them to verify my testimony.”

Payment From CBSA

Mr. Ossowski was also asked about being paid $500 by the CBSA after he had moved on to a job at PricewaterhouseCooopers, to help him prepare for testimony to an earlier committee about ArriveCan.

“So you were paid $500 to get access to internal files and documents,” asked Conservative MP Michael Barrett. “Which I think I’ve already articulated is a highly questionable decision and certainly raises ethical questions based on your current employment.”

Mr. Barrett said PricewaterhouseCoopers does “significant business with the government of Canada” and suggested it was a conflict of interest for Mr. Ossowski to take government money to help him prepare to testify.

Bloc Quebecois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné asked Mr. Ossowski why he didn’t refuse the payment, “knowing you were already employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers?”

“My initial response was that I did not want to get paid. They asked for my hours and they paid me. I’m happy to pay the money back,” Mr. Ossowski said.