Despite assurances that federal COVID-19 business aid would be handled domestically, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been caught failing to deliver on a key promise.
Now we learn that one-third of the workers handling a major $49 billion small business loan program were actually based in Brazil, contracted through global consulting giant Accenture.
This shocking outsourcing deal, one of the largest in Canadian history, was never publicly disclosed.
With hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds flowing overseas, serious questions remain about who exactly is managing these programs and why so much crucial work was handed to a foreign subsidiary.
Why wouldn’t we put Canadians to work rather than sending our money to Brazil? It seems that the Liberal government has some serious explaining to do.
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government took power in 2015, they promised Canadians “sunny ways” and transparent, ethical governance that puts Canadians first.
It’s easy to say that the Liberal way has not been “sunny” at all.
Recent revelations about the government’s handling of federal COVID-19 business aid programs seem to contradict those lofty promises.
Despite repeated assurances that pandemic economic relief would be administered domestically, it turns out the Liberals quietly outsourced a massive portion of the work to foreign contractors.
One of the largest government aid programs, the $49 billion Canada Emergency Business Account, or the CEBA, was partially handled by consultants in Brazil working for global firm Accenture.
This shocking outsourcing deal, worth over $200 million, was never publicly disclosed, and is one of the largest contracts ever given to a major consulting firm.
Now, taxpayers are left wondering why so much crucial pandemic work was secretly contracted overseas rather than supporting Canadian jobs. The whole debacle reeks of mismanagement and seems to break trust with citizens expecting our public funds to be handled ethically and transparently within our borders.
Accenture’s involvement was first uncovered by The Globe and Mail last year. As the CEBA program provided loans to nearly 900,000 small businesses, it emerged that Accenture had been handed multiple sole-source government contracts to administer the funds. The agreement was reportedly one of the biggest consulting contracts in Canadian history, yet it was never announced to the public.
Initially, Liberal spokespeople claimed nearly all Accenture employees working on CEBA were located in Canada. But recently it was discovered that around one-third were actually in Brazil, contracted through an Accenture subsidiary in Sao Paulo.
The government finally confirmed this fact after weeks of stonewalling further questions.
According to Export Development Canada, the Crown corporation managing CEBA, approximately 105 Accenture employees in Canada and 3 in the United States handled “front-line delivery” tasks like running the call center.
Meanwhile, a 46-person software team in Brazil configured the loan-accounting system to track CEBA repayments.
Government officials claim the Brazil team won’t access sensitive data on Canadian loan recipients. But entrusting any aspect of a major federal pandemic program to a foreign subsidiary raises serious accountability issues, especially when domestic jobs are at stake.
Outsourcing government work can sometimes be a positive thing as it provides us with foreign expertise, talent, and manpower..
However, the sheer size of Accenture’s contract, the lack of transparency, and offshoring sensitive work all seem blatantly corrupt and unethical, for a program billed as stimulating the struggling Canadian economy.
I’m pretty sure that many capable Canadian technology firms could have handled this work rather than offshoring it abroad. Handing over $200 million in taxpayer funds to a subsidiary of a U.S. multinational consulting giant breaks trust with citizens expecting our pandemic recovery programs to circulate within Canada.
The Accenture deal just highlights the Trudeau government’s penchant for using expensive, opaque outsourcing rather than building internal capabilities and domestic jobs.
This approach lacks transparency towards Canadians while channeling public funds to large international corporations. Canadians deserve an open, ethical public service that builds lasting domestic skills rather than reflexively outsourcing across borders.
The ongoing mismanagement of CEBA also damages trust in the Liberals’ pandemic response.
Years later, the program is still plagued by administrative problems, with many small-business owners blocked from getting full loan forgiveness due to unresolved application issues. The whole process continues relying on an overseas subsidiary that remains out of sight to taxpayers.
None of this inspires confidence in the government’s capability or transparency around a vital program meant to help struggling local enterprises during an unprecedented crisis.
It reeks of misplaced priorities and broken commitments at a time demanding we invest in Canadians.
But can we really say that any of us are surprised about this?
From his billion-dollar green slush fund scandal, to his battery plant which also employed foreign workers instead of Canadians, it’s clear to see that Justin Trudeau’s priorities lie far away from what Canadians actually need.
For a Prime Minister who promised “sunny ways” and putting Canadians first, this outsourcing debacle is unacceptable.
Why wouldn’t we hire Canadians instead of sending our money to Brazil, a country with major corruption problems? Could this be some sort of money laundering scheme? What happened to using our skilled public service for critical projects?
These are all questions on all of our minds right now. And to be honest, anything is possible under Justin Trudeau, and almost nothing is too far-fetched. We’ve really seen it all after eight, long years.
This is how Canadians’ private data gets compromised and used against us later. Trust is broken when shady foreign contractors manage huge public programs rather than keeping the work here at home.
Once again, the Trudeau Liberals fail to deliver for Canada on a major commitment.
Just as with canceled pipeline projects and ballooning deficits, their glowing words about ethical governance ring hollow. Sending away jobs while money flows overseas betrays struggling Canadians needing pandemic support.
At a time of crisis demanding we pull together, the Liberals undermine social solidarity through misguided outsourcing.
Putting Brazilian consultants ahead of Canadian workers and technology firms is unfathomable. Canadians deserve the opportunity to do this important, well-funded work ourselves rather than seeing contracts whisked abroad.
The government claims outsourcing provided speed early in the pandemic.
But years later, this band-aid fix has become permanent, wasting huge sums that could build lasting domestic capacity. The Liberals show no credible plans to rectify their ethical lapses and bring program management home where it belongs.
Canada needs a government that walks its talk on transparency, ethics and opportunities for citizens.
Enough of the Liberal hypocrisy, mismanagement and broken commitments while our society suffers. The stunning scale of outsourcing discovered in CEBA is the tip of the iceberg for shady Liberal dealings that seldom see sunlight.
Canadians struggling under the costly carbon tax, soaring inflation, rising prices and a housing and affordability crisis deserve so much better than opaque foreign contracts doled out by a corrupt, unaccountable government.
We need leaders who will look us in the eye and put the national interest first, not escape accountability through consultants in Brazil.
If Prime Minister Trudeau truly stands by his words about sunny ways and putting Canadians first, he must start by bringing pandemic program management home, creating jobs here rather than exporting them abroad.
But it’s clear to see that that just isn’t the case.
And with Trudeau getting exposed for scandal after scandal, already struggling Canadians can only take so much.
The CEBA scandal is not an isolated incident – it fits a pattern of mismanagement and dubious contracts that have eroded trust in the Trudeau government.
Time and again, the Liberals have prioritized corporate interests, outsourcing and murky deals rather than accountability to citizens.
This pattern of misplaced priorities, conflicts of interest and catering to elites has rightly eroded the Liberal brand. But instead of changing course, the government continues relying on spinning the truth and full-on secrecy.
And as an election approaches, whether it’s held in 2025 or before that, Trudeau is getting kicked out one way or the other. Going up against someone like Pierre Poilievre, someone who prides himself in being a man of the people, I believe that Trudeau simply has no chance.
As we eagerly await the day Canada has a leader that actually cares about their citizens, Trudeau’s clock remains to tick.
