Where are the funds? Trudeau Liberals must repay Canadians for the $60M ArriveCAN scam

Tamara Ugolini
  |   February 29, 2024

The almost $60 million ArriveCAN scam is just one of many pandemic-born scandals under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal regime.

Concerns over the ArriveCAN surveillance app’s invasion of privacy and the imposition of hefty fines on Canadian travellers were evidence from the start. However, recent revelations expose how contractors padded their pockets by aiding government surveillance of innocent Canadians, while Liberal oversight (or lack thereof) allowed them to receive payment without accountability for squandered funds.

The ArriveCAN application was originally launched by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) at the end of April 2020. It was designed as a tool to track and gather health information of Canadians due to the global emergency known as the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of November 2020, this personal data-soliciting app became a mandatory requirement for all travellers entering Canada. The requirement remained in place for nearly two years, until October 2022. Canadians citizens who did not using the app while returning to their own country were harshly penalized, enduring exorbitant fines and being forced into quarantine at subpar hotels where sexual assaults were alleged and other atrocities ensued.

During that time Rebel News, launched a petition campaign at NoArriveCAN.com to fight back against this constitutionally infringing seizure of personal information and forced quarantine of Canadians. The successful crowdfunding for the legal defence of those facing thousands of dollars worth of fines for non-compliance with this government-mandated tracking app was executed by The Democracy Fund, a registered Canadian charity whose efforts persist to this day.

While the privacy-infringing app was used to track and gather the COVID-19 vaccination status of Canadians, it’s now under investigation for costing taxpayers an enormous $60 million, even though early estimates initially pegged its development as an $80,000 endeavour.

As it turns out, an “IT staffing firm” called GC Strategies received the bulk of the funds — approximately $20 million out of the estimated $60 million. The firm has only two employees, Darren Anthony and Kristian Firth, who essentially subcontract work out to other agencies. It’s since been determined that many of the subcontractors listed on this file never actually performed any work.

The street view of GC Strategies Inc. business address, located at 151 Bank Street in Ottawa, raises suspicions about the legitimacy of the multi-million dollar firm's location.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett said this two-person company has received $250 million in government contracts since 2015 and has called for a full investigation into its fiscal operations after the government suspended contract relationships with the firm in November 2023.

All of this prompted Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre to call for the RCMP to expand its criminal investigation into the ArriveCAN scam and look at the wastage, abuse of power and potential criminality by Trudeau government insiders.

Bookkeeping of this project “was so poor” that Auditor General Karen Hogan was “unable to determine the precise cost of the ArriveCAN application,” according to her report.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has touted transparency lip service as the investigation has unfurled, yet his Liberals block the use of committee subpoenas to compel testimony around the ArriveCAN scandal in the House of Commons.

This is unsurprising, given that this is the same government whose MPs, like Kevin Lamoureux, are still using segregationist language, saying how people should be thankful that the unvaccinated were marginalized throughout the pandemic.

The Canadian Border Services Agency is even said to be punishing whistleblowers Cameron McDonald and Atonio Utano for speaking out about this scandal.

The Consumer Law Group has recently launched a class-action lawsuit against the Attorney General of Canada that claims the AG “negligently contracted, developed, and implemented the ArriveCAN application. It is alleged that this conduct resulted in at least 10,200 travellers being subjected to an unlawful quarantine upon arrival at a port of entry due to glitches with the ArriveCAN app.”

Let’s not forget that in 2022, a Toronto tech company called Tribal Scale said it would have taken a mere few days, and cost the company less than $1 million to build the ArriveCAN app, proving how the feds overpaid by tens of millions for this data collection exercise.

Will Canadians and the opposition government hold the Liberals accountable to ensure they are not let off of the hook for yet another scandal?

Tamara Ugolini

Senior Editor

Tamara Ugolini is an informed choice advocate turned journalist whose journey into motherhood sparked her passion for parental rights and the importance of true informed consent. She critically examines the shortcomings of "Big Policy" and its impact on individuals, while challenging mainstream narratives to empower others in their decision-making.

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