Tory MP Says Canada Border Agency Asked RCMP to Investigate ArriveCan Development for Fraud, Bribery

Conservative MP for Brantford-Brant Larry Brock rises during Question Period, Nov. 23, 2023 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

The Canada Border Services Agency asked the RCMP to investigate criminal charges for fraud and bribery related to the ArriveCan application, according to a confidential federal report obtained by a Conservative MP.

Conservative MP Larry Brock read portions of the confidential document compiled by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) management into the record of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) on Feb. 5. The Epoch Times has not independently verified the information.

“I have the information right before me. It is very clear,” Mr. Brock told MPs on OGGO, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Citing the report, he said it alleged “serious employee misconduct, so serious that you [the CBSA] required the RCMP to investigate at least two criminal charges: fraud and bribery.”

In addition, he said, the report alleged an ArriveCan contractor “solicited a bribe.”

Mr. Brock read out the report during the testimony of Michel Lafleur, the Border Services Agency’s executive director of professional integrity, who investigated ArriveCan contractors. Mr. Lafleur told MPs on the committee that the department found some evidence of wrongdoing to justify further investigation but “no indication of widespread corruption.”

For several months, OGGO has been examining how private companies received millions in taxpayer dollars to develop the ArriveCan app. Critics have said the app could have been developed for a fraction of its $54 million cost.

A recent report by the federal procurement ombudsman found that 76 percent of contractors hired to work on the ArriveCan application “did no work” on the app. Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic told OGGO on Jan. 31 that he was concerned with the “systemic non-compliance” that was uncovered when investigating the contract files, including a “high level” of missing documentation.

Deleted Emails 

Mr. Brock said the confidential records he obtained suggested that four years’ worth of “relevant, sensitive emails” related to ArriveCan were deleted by an agency manager between 2018 and 2022. “The approximate amount of those emails is roughly seven gigabytes or 1,700 emails,” he said.

“You would agree with me, sir, that deleting emails is an extremely serious offence?” Mr. Brock asked Mr. Lafleur.

“It would be a breach of the code of conduct to wilfully delete emails,” replied Mr. Lafleur.

Mr. Lafleur said that while he had notified the Auditor General of the allegations that emails had been deleted, the Treasury Board Secretariat and RCMP were not notified.

“We are required to report potential criminality. I have no evidence of that at this time,” he said.

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“Wow. ‘No evidence’ of potentially deliberately deleting emails, and that is not criminality to you?” Mr. Brock responded.

Liberal and NDP MPs on the committee expressed astonishment that Mr. Brock had obtained the report. “I don’t believe any of us have actually seen this ‘Statement Of Facts.’ Do you have a copy that you can share with us?” asked Liberal MP Charles Sousa.

OGGO Chair and Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said he and the clerk were the only ones with a copy of the report, and they would discuss it further on Feb. 7.

New Democrat MP Taylor Bachrach said the allegations suggested there was “serious wrongdoing amongst civil servants working on the ArriveCan procurement. “That is something all Canadians should be worried about,” he said.

The Auditor General is expected to release its report on ArriveCan on Feb. 12.