Early audit of McKinsey contracts shows ‘no evidence of political interference’ – National | 24CA News
An early audit of contracts awarded to McKinsey and Company by the federal authorities reveals “no evidence of political interference,” the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says.
However, the executive department of the Treasury Board stated Friday that it has discovered “certain administrative requirements and procedures were not consistently followed” with the work orders.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) stated on March 24 that the Treasury Board president and procurement minister at the moment are conducting opinions of the McKinsey contracts on the request of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The House of Commons authorities operations committee has been trying into the federal contracts awarded to McKinsey and different consulting corporations since 2011. The committee launched its examine of McKinsey’s contracts with the federal authorities following revelations the agency’s work for Ottawa has expanded quickly since Trudeau’s Liberal authorities got here to energy in 2015.
According to information shared by Public Services and Procurement Canada, $116.8 million has been paid to McKinsey since 2015.
Between March 2021 and the autumn of 2022, the contracts totalled at the least $62 million, in line with a doc lately tabled within the House of Commons in response to a query from a Conservative MP.
Outsourcing to such corporations has elevated throughout the federal government in recent times — a pattern that some researchers say erodes the skills of federal staff to hold out their work.
Friday’s inner opinions will complement the committee’s work, in addition to different probes already underway with the auditor normal’s workplace and procurement ombudsmen, the TBS stated.
It has requested departments to establish and conduct an inner audit of their contracts with McKinsey to confirm if the integrity of the procurement course of was maintained and complied with Treasury Board coverage and frameworks.
“Based on TBS’ preliminary observations of audit results from departments, the audits reveal no evidence of political interference, and broad compliance with values and ethics commitments,” the TBS stated in a news launch.
“However, there are indications that certain administrative requirements and procedures were not consistently followed. Departments have developed management action plans to address their respective audit recommendations.”
The TBS added its probe is ongoing, and can produce a closing report by June 30.
— with recordsdata from The Canadian Press
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