Liberal MP wants to keep ‘false testimony’ recording hush on Arrivescam

The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld

Attempts to keep Arrivescam hush remain ongoing after one Liberal MP said it would be wise to keep a recording urging false testimony secret.

Diane Daly, a federal procurement manager, named Lysane Bolduc, Director General for Public Services and Procurement Canada, as the senior official who tried to intimidate her into silence months ago.

Daly claims that she recorded the conversations and has email proof.

"Why was the finger pointed at you?" asked Conservative MP Garnett Genuis. "Very good question," replied Daly. "I do not know... I was just a low-level employee." 

This is wild. Dianne Daly, a federal government procurement manager, says Lysane Bolduc, Director General for Public Services and Procurement Canada tried to intimate her into silence.

And she says she recorded the conversations and has email proof. pic.twitter.com/MzLsMd2KUx

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) August 7, 2024

Daly told the Commons public accounts committee Wednesday that senior officials subjected her to a three-and-a-half hour inquisition on Arrivescam in January. When Daly refused to create false allegations and divert investigations, she was placed on administrative leave.

Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan, a committee member, said Thursday that she wants to keep the inquisition recording secret. "Listening to a recording … unknown to third parties and is part of a private investigation … risks to potentially sabotage that investigation," she said.

"I know we have experienced members on this committee, who are very, very much aware of this," the MP said, claiming that Conservative MPs were trying to compromise internal reviews.

In her testimony, Daly blamed senior management and political employees for "pitting federal government workers against each other to create false allegations and divert investigations."

She attributes her administrative leave to not blaming Cameron MacDonald, an assistant deputy minister at Health Canada, for the Arrivescam boondoggle.

"My job is under threat [because of] what I saw, not what I did," Daly said.

Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan wants to keep secret the recording of the inquisition Diane Daly was subject to by her CBSA superiors when she refused to give false testimony about the ArriveScam scandal.

She wants us to trust the internal process so derelict in its duty that it let… pic.twitter.com/9S7BP89xWU

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) August 8, 2024

A Conservative motion to compel testimony from Daly’s managers, as well as senior CBSA officials, was unanimously approved Wednesday.

"We want to get accurate information to get to the bottom of what happened in the Arrivescam affair and we have clearly different members or factions within the senior public service who are criticizing each other, accusing each other of lying, of covering up information, of trying to cover people at the political level," MP Genuis said.

Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné expressed unease with Daly’s testimony, insisting that relevant emails pointed to her advocating for GC Strategies to receive the contract. 

"Did you do this by your own will or were you told to do this, and if so by who?" Sinclair-Desgagné asked. "The request came down from the senior management," replied Daly, citing an executive director. Daly further claimed that she was not aware of GC strategies at the time. 

CPC's @GarnettGenuis details a scenario wherein suspended CBSA manager Diane Daly is made a scapegoat to make the Liberals' $60 million ArriveScam scandal go away - to "cauterize the wound."

Transcript:

Christian Firth comes to the Operations Committee (OGGO) on March 13th.… pic.twitter.com/lTF5aoP7pF

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) August 8, 2024

Kristian Firth, one of two owners of GC Strategies, named Daly on April 17 as the person he worked with to design that contract. He refused disclosure previously when compelled by Members of Parliament.

Police raided Firth’s offices the same day he named Daly as party to the contract. GC Strategies is barred from receiving federal contracts pending the results of that investigation.

"Now, maybe, after having covered up for so long, he finally decided to do the right thing," MP Genuis said Wednesday. "That's one explanation."

https://twitter.com/SheilaGunnReid/status/1821262612899979344

"He just decided at that point he was going to do the right thing. But another possible explanation is that Mr. Firth had decided to support the Liberal government's efforts to pin the blame for the ArriveScam fiasco on a few officials while absolving others," he continued.