Chrystia Freeland’s second-in-command would not reveal why sketchy contracts were approved to a global firm with ties to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Deputy Finance Minister Chris Forbes could not articulate which staff hired a Brazilian contractor, and subsidiary to Accenture PLC, to mismanage a pandemic loan program for businesses.

Opposition MPs want their identities, with some calling for their dismissal, reported Blacklock’s. The mismanagement of Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans cost taxpayers $3.5 billion.

MPs want Freeland’s staff fired for COVID contracts given to WEF firm

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, who serves on the WEF Board of Trustees alongside Freeland, saw a significant surge in federal contracts.

REPORT by @WestCdnFirst: https://t.co/eB5YXI4aT1

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) December 6, 2024

“There weren’t a lot of options as to how to deliver this,” Deputy Forbes told the Commons public accounts committee. “We knew we had to get the support out. Export Development Canada, it was determined, was the best option.”

“I’m not saying it was easy for EDC,” he added. 

Export Development Canada (EDC), a Crown bank, managed the program at the discretion of Finance Minister Freeland, MPs previously learned. “For context, in a typical year Export Development Canada extends about 300 loans,” Mairead Lavery, the bank CEO told the Commons public accounts committee.

It poorly monitored $49.1 billion in taxpayer loans to some 898,000 small businesses, reads an audit report, citing a “failure to exercise basic controls.”

I wonder if there’s a connection between this and the hundreds of millions of dollars being shovelled out of Canadian taxpayers’ wallets by Freeland in consulting contracts to Accenture and McKinsey? https://t.co/khfFtq8tag

— Andy Lee (@RealAndyLeeShow) December 4, 2024

CEO Lavery said those responsible include “finance officials below the deputy minister level,” of which she promised to submit a list of names to the committee.

The committee has yet to learn who was responsible for the mismanaged program, reported Blacklock’s.

“Who decided Export Development Canada would be the Crown corporation that was going to manage this program?” asked Conservative MP Kelly McCauley. “The government took the decision to use Export Development Canada,” replied Deputy Forbes.

“‘The ‘government,’ was that the Minister of Finance?” asked MP McCauley. “It was a cabinet decision,” replied Forbes.

Opposition MPs allege the Finance Department and EDC were not forthcoming at hearings. “It’s very clear we have got a lot of issues,” he testified.

Freeland says leniency should be granted to the program, which was “designed and delivered during a global pandemic.” McCauley said: “Covid is not an excuse for ignoring the rules.”

The “insider” is Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who sits on the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees along with the CEO of Accenture, Julie Sweet.

Accenture contracts awarded by the federal government have roughly increased by over 4000% since 2017.

Questions? https://t.co/6VjhutQZld pic.twitter.com/JXglIn5KUL

— Andy Lee (@RealAndyLeeShow) June 29, 2023

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, who sat on the WEF Board of Trustees alongside Freeland, has received a steady upswing in federal contracts since 2017. 

In 2019, the EDC awarded Accenture some $10 million in federal contracts, pumping up to $50 million the following year, courtesy of pandemic loans.

Parliament tabled the CEBA program in 2020 to provide entrepreneurs with interest-free loans to mitigate business closures. Accenture approved $49.1 billion in loans to some 898,000 businesses, of which $3.5 billion went to ineligible operators.

Accenture is slated to pocket a billion dollars in contracts from the Liberal government through 2028. A critical Auditors General's report said the consultancy received $342 million in pandemic contracts, most of which were non-competitive.

Mismanagement of the Canada Emergency Business Account led to ineligible businesses receiving $3.5 billion in pandemic loans. Accenture’s CEO sat on the WEF’s Board of Trustees alongside Freeland.https://t.co/oX94KrkDt4

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) December 3, 2024

In prior testimony, Auditor General Karen Hogan called out the Department of Finance for the taxpayer waste, raising concerns about the size of the deals.

The audit report, Canada Emergency Business Account, also identified considerable billing discrepancies, where Brazilian call centres charged 14 hours daily for $23.2 million, nearly ten-times the original budget.

Auditors note federal employees — not private consultants — should have run the program.

“This program could have been delivered for less money,” concluded Hogan. EDC did not identify misallocated loans at the time of payment.

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