Arrivescam sweetheart sues Government of Canada for $64 million

A federal contractor, suspended over sweetheart contracts for Arrivescam, is suing the Government of Canada for $64 million in damages, Federal Court records show. Coradix Technology Consulting Inc. blamed federal managers and media for costing it millions in fees.

“The sole basis for the suspension and termination was the false allegation that Coradix had breached the Code Of Conduct for procurement,” company lawyers wrote the Court. “Coradix was not in breach.”

The firm was blacklisted March 6 amid a public outcry over the $59.5 million Arrivescam application. Coradix was involved in an unrelated joint venture with another suspended vendor, Dalian Enterprises of Ottawa. 

GC Strategies, the lead Arrivescam contractor, was also suspended. The RCMP raided its Woodlawn, Ontario offices on April 16 as part of an investigation into alleged fraudulent billing.

The company claims $57 million in lost payments through breach of contract and $7 million for general damages and reputational harm, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Media reporting that resulted from the press release inferred and concluded Coradix’s suspension resulted from the Department of Public Works having decided Coradix was engaged in wrongdoing that affected the integrity, fairness, openness and transparency of the federal procurement system,” wrote the company.

Coradix had 81 federal contracts at the time. All were terminated or suspended within weeks, it said. “Terminations and suspensions of the contracts were done in bad faith,” lawyers wrote the Court. 

The firm’s federal clients include the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and several other agencies and departments. Auditor General Karen Hogan alleged “cozy relationships” between these firms and the public service on the pandemic tool.

Over the past decade, Coradix and Dalian received a combined $362 million as a joint venture. Since 2017, GCStrategies received $46 million in taxpayer-funded contracts with the federal government.

Botler co-founders, Ritika Dutt and Amir Morv, claim these firms have collected extensive commissions, used personal information without consent and exaggerated their work experience.

Botler, which worked on a pilot project for detecting sexual harassment, said funding came from a larger $21.2 million contract for “general services” that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) also drew from to fund the ArriveCAN app.

MPs and auditors to date have uncovered numerous “irregularities” in Arrivescam contracting, including destruction of emails, inside dealing and drinking sessions with federal managers. 

“The government couldn’t spend the money fast enough on Arrivescam,” Conservative MP Kelly Block told a June 3 hearing of the Commons government operations committee.

Opposition parties cited Arrivescam as the poster child of reckless spending on federal consultants that cost taxpayers $21.6 billion a year. “The government seems to be losing control,” Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné told a June 6 committee hearing.

Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

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