RCMP examining auditor general’s report into ArriveCAN process failures

The RCMP says it’s examining the auditor general’s scathing report earlier this week into the federal government’s management of the ArriveCAN app, which found “repeated” failures.

Auditor general Karen Hogan appeared before a parliamentary committee Wednesday and said she met with the RCMP before her report was released and “talked to them in generalities about our findings” because they had not yet been made public.

Her report released Monday outlined “glaring disregard for basic management and contracting practices” and called the pandemic-era program one of the worst examples of financial record keeping she has ever seen.

Hogan estimates the price tag was roughly $59.5 million, but said the project was so badly managed it’s impossible to know the final cost.

In a statement Wednesday evening, RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Kim Chamberland said the Mounties are “assessing the available information, including the Auditor General’s performance audit report and will take appropriate action.”

The RCMP has not confirmed whether it’s probing ArriveCAN specifically, only that it’s “investigating a matter referred from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) based on allegations brought to their attention by Botler AI.”

Botler AI is a Montreal company.

According to reporting from the Globe and Mail, Botler AI did not work on ArriveCAN but did work with outside contractors, including GCStrategies, which was first hired to build the app.

The Globe first published a report last January, detailing the bungled contracting process.

The Ottawa-based GCStrategies was hired to build ArriveCAN, then subcontracted the work to six other companies.

The auditor general found scant explanation as to why GCStrategies – a small consulting firm – was awarded