A Canadian parliamentary committee investigating the controversial ArriveCan app and related procurement misconduct allegations has abruptly suspended its hearings. The move came after members of the Liberal, Bloc Québécois, and NDP parties were privy to a “scary” secret report from Michel Lafleur, a federal investigator with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
“I’m not a lawyer, okay, but what I read, it’s scary,” said Liberal MP and committee vice-chair Majid Jowhari.
The report by Mr. Lafleur stems from allegations raised by Botler AI, a software firm alleging inflated resumes and unethical relationships between public officials and contractors involved in the procurement process. While ArriveCan was not an area of concern for Botler, some of the same individuals and contracts overlap with those investigated in the CBSA probe.
The ArriveCan app was designed to enable anyone entering Canada to upload documentation about their vaccination status to a digital identity app stored on their smartphone, and was a requirement during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was controversial in part for being difficult to use, especially for individuals who aren’t accustomed to using digital documents and mobile technology.
While the Canadian government had previously signalled plans to turn the app into a more comprehensive border screening tool, after a public backlash and sharp criticism from opposition parties, the government decided to make use of the app optional for travelers in the latter half of 2022.
But with the recent revelations about the app’s procurement process and development, it appears that the ArriveCan scandal is ongoing, even if details have not yet been made public.
Conservative members of the parliamentary committee are furious at the suspension of its investigation, accusing the Liberals of a cover-up ahead of the Auditor-General’s ArriveCan report due next week. They claim the sudden suspension of the investigation suggests serious impropriety by the government.
The Liberals, Bloc Québécois, and NDP members maintain that continuing the hearings could compromise ongoing investigations by the CBSA and RCMP. They claim that further public discussions around the issue might impede justice.
Source: The Globe and Mail
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February 8, 2024 – by the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
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