Former Canada Border Services Agency President John Ossowski has been summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee after failing to voluntarily testify about the ArriveCan application.
“People simply don’t want to show up because they have been named, and that’s too bad,” Conservative MP Jake Stewart said prior to the vote. “We have a role to play in keeping people accountable.”
A second executive named in the committee summons was Paul Girard, former chief information officer at the Treasury Board. Both Mr. Giard and Mr. Ossowski must appear before the committee on May 16.Mr. Ossowski previously told the committee in 2022 that he was “incredibly proud of how our agency responded” to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“I think it was exceptional value for money,” he said of the ArriveCan app, which was used to check the COVID vaccination status of travellers.
ArriveCan has been at the centre of a controversy over procurement spending, especially after a report from Auditor General Karen Hogan found the app cost roughly $59.5 million. Ms. Hogan said that figure was an approximation because she could only make a determination based on information made available to her.
“I’ve been the auditor general for almost four years now, and I would tell you that this is probably some of the worst financial record-keeping that I’ve seen,” Ms. Hogan said about ArriveCan on Feb. 12.
