Federal panel examines ‘shocking’ costs of ArriveCAN | Corona virus

The Standing Committee on Government Operations and Assessments will meet Monday morning to begin deliberations on a request to review the cost of the ArriveCAN application submitted by members of the said committee.

From the start, Liberal MP and committee member Anthony Housefather wanted to qualify the figures revealed. The Globe and Mail October 6th. As of now, we don’t even know the app cost and app maintenance cost, he said. According to him, the amount of 54 million dollars includes at least 25 million, which is a Competition Agreement target Support various applications including ArriveCAN. The agreement will include several Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) services.

However, Anthony Hausfather was able to confirm the costs associated with the ArriveCAN application alone: ​​the development of the first version cost only $80,000, but required 70 updates. Because the norms have changed over time.

” These 70 updates cost a total of $8.8 million. »

This is a serious issue, and Canadians are rightly concerned about the very high cost of this appAfter revealing these figures, he agreed.

Conservatives condemn

Conservative MP Kelly McCauley called out those costs ColossalIn an inflationary forcing environment More Canadians rely on food banks. It’s a failure, how can this happen? […] Who authorized the fixed cost increase?

Especially the company that got the most important contract related to the development of ArriveCAN, GCSstrategies is raising eyebrows. It has just five employees and had to do business with 23 subcontractors for the project.

How can a company with very few employees get such a contract?The curator hurried to ask Macaulay.

No HackathonJust ask the liberals

In particular, the committee was to select on Monday the witnesses invited to speak at subsequent meetings.

Members of the four departments involved (Public Service Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Safety Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency), two heads of GCS strategies and a representative from the Customs and Immigration Union were decided rather casually. He will be called to testify during the next two committee meetings.

However, the opposition and the Liberals disagreed on the participation of experts from the technology community. Origins of the paradox: Canadian tech companies carried out a few days ago HackathonsOr hackathons where developers get together to work on a given project.

Many of them said they could build an app like ArriveCAN in a weekend and for hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to the millions charged by GCSstrategies.

” Hackathon experts matter. I don’t want to hear bureaucrats who are going to say that the program is good and that it has saved lives. This plan is too expensive for Canadians and I want to know if we could have done it differently. »

Building an app in a weekend does not create a tool worthy of millions of Canadians [et] A passport requires a lot of details, which affects different governments and different administrationsLiberal Anthony denied Housefather. You should consider language requirements – not just French and English – and have users test all settings and QR codes.

The Committee has decided to proceed with at least two meetings where it will hear from key proposed witnesses (departments, GCS strategies and the union). Following these meetings, if member representatives are not satisfied with the answers provided, they may invite outside organizations, including those who have conducted “hackathons,” to testify at a third meeting.

How to calculate costs?

The team must also agree on what the costs associated with ArriveCAN will include. According to Liberal Anthony Housefather, only the committee should consider Lecture Setting up phone connections, provisions for the blind, coordination with provinces and territories is not about the application. According to him, the amount submitted was $54 million The Globe and Mail All these services are inclusive.

This worries meNDP MP Cort Johns fired back. We also want to look at new costs, ongoing costs, application maintenance, and launch.

I think it’s pretty clear that the utility of this app is absolutely devastating and is an important feature that needs to be taken into account.Meanwhile the conservative Garnet Genuis criticized

” Those we should not have demanded isolation were forced to. It is very expensive. The price decision should be proportionate. »

The committee decided that development, rollout and maintenance of the application would be studied.

Following these meetings, after consulting all necessary documents including list of sub-contractors, uncorrected costs, invoices and contracts, the committee shall publish its findings in a report.

Border services disclose costs

In an email sent to Radio-Canada on Monday afternoon, the CBSA provided a list of the utility and the costs associated with its operation, according to the April 2020 to March 2023 budget.

In addition to the design of the original version of this application and its many updates, the service was noted at a cost of 7.5 million for the Canada call center, which answered more than 645,000 calls about health measures. $4.9 million for employee benefits or office rent; $4.5 million to develop and maintain information technology systems necessary to support border health operations; Additionally, $2.3 million to ensure compliance with Canadian cybersecurity standards.

To this amount should be added 4.5 million for technical assistance provided to passengers, airlines and airports, and 3.8 million for contingencies, among other expenses, the nature of which was not specified.