Commons committee agrees to summon GC Strategies to testify on ArriveCan

The House government operations committee has agreed to summon the heads of the IT staffing firm at the centre of the ArriveCan controversy.

GC Strategies, the largest contractor to work on the ArriveCan app project, is facing heightened scrutiny after the auditor general cited excessive reliance on contractors as a major factor contributing to the project's ballooning costs.

MPs on the committee agreed Wednesday to summon the firm's two partners – Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony – to testify about their involvement with ArriveCan.

The government operations committee has been studying ArriveCan for months. Firth has spoken to the committee on two previous occasions.

The committee asked Firth and Anthony to return in November and again earlier this month but the two declined, citing concerns about their mental health.

MPs agreed to summon Firth and Anthony if accommodations were made for any health concerns the two may have.

The agreement to summon GC Strategies comes after a damning report from Canada's auditor general found a «glaring disregard» for fundamental contracting practices.

The auditor general said in her report she found little documentation to show why or how GC Strategies was chosen for the project.

The report also indicated that some CBSA officials had close relationships with certain contractors, noting that the officials in question were invited «to dinners and other activities.» The auditor general didn't name the contractors or officials in question.

CBC News has reached out to GC Strategies following the release of the auditor general's report but has not received a response.

The committee is meeting again Thursday and will hear from two of the public servants embroiled in the controversy.

Antonio Utano and