Canada to probe outsourcing contracts with McKinsey
OTTAWA, CANADA — The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) is starting its investigation of the government’s outsourcing contracts with consultancy giant McKinsey as questions arise over the firm’s close ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
According to OAG Spokesman Vincent Frigon, the agency has already informed the parliament of the audit.
However, the audit scope requested by the Conservative Party is still to be determined.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis recently decried the “enormous amount of money” paid to the firm since 2015 when Trudeau’s Liberals took office.
According to Public Services and Procurement Canada data, the government had paid CAN$116.8 million (US$85.7 million) to McKinsey since 2015, when Liberal PM Trudeau took office.
McKinsey’s former Managing Director Dominic Barton formerly stated that he is not a close friend of the prime minister and that he “had no involvement whatsoever” in Canadian government contracts awarded to McKinsey since he relocated to Asia in 1996.
Barton left the firm to become Canada’s ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021.
Earlier this year, Trudeau himself asked government members for a committee review regarding the government’s contracts with McKinsey “to ensure that everything was done in the right way, or whether we need to change or adjust any rules.”
