The use of consulting firms like Deloitte, Accenture, and McKinsey exploded under the Justin Trudeau government. They offer expert advice in several areas such as organization, operation and strategy. Today we know through multiple access to information filings that these firms have infiltrated almost every aspect of the federal government — they act as though they are ministries of the government.

One of these companies is McKinsey, founded in New York in 1926. This company is a global management consulting firm. But the exact role played by this firm is a total mystery because the clients who deal with it are held to very strict confidentiality clauses.

McKinsey also affixes their client’s logo to their completed project report, and they even get emails under addresses belonging to their client, so it is impossible to know what McKinsey is doing while working in government. They act as the federal government without the same ability of the public to look into what they are doing, because as a private company they aren’t subject to access to information laws.

McKinsey has always been controversial, since it has been in the middle of huge conflicts of interest as the opioid crisis in the US.

One of the major clients of McKinsey is Pfizer, and we have learned that McKinsey was awarded the contract to manage the vaccination campaign in Quebec by the provincial government, but its exact role remains unclear.

Here’s what we know so far: in Quebec, the firm advised the Legault government at a cost of $35,000 per day for pandemic management and the vaccination campaign. The government spent $1.7 million and $4.9 million respectively on McKinsey to prepare the reopening plan and the economic recovery plan. 

Under Justin Trudeau’s government, since 2015, 24 contracts totalling $101.6 million have been awarded to McKinsey. But this number continues to increase with parliamentary discoveries.