Conservatives accuse Liberals of dodging GC Strategies taxpayer funds repayment
Conservatives say Carney’s government is openly defying a House of Commons motion that ordered the full recovery of funds paid to ArriveCAN contractor GC Strategies within 100 days.
Conservatives say Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is openly defying a House of Commons motion that ordered the full recovery of funds paid to ArriveCAN contractor GC Strategies within 100 days.
In a post on Thursday, Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie said top officials confirmed this week that the government is seeking just $198,000 in repayments from GC Strategies, which amounts to only 0.03 per cent of the $64 million identified in the Auditor General’s report as paid for work often lacking proof of completion.
“Carney’s Liberal government is openly defying a House of Commons motion,” Kusie said. “Canadians want their money back. Parliament must be respected.”
The Commons non-binging opposition motion, sponsored by Conservative MP Michael Barrett, passed on June 16 by a vote of 172 to 166 with support from the Bloc Québécois, NDP and Greens.
It directed the government to recoup the full $64 million within 100 days and impose a lifetime contracting ban on GC Strategies, its subsidiaries and its founders, Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony.
While the government suspended GC Strategies from new federal work in 2024 and declared the firm ineligible for contracts for seven years, effective June 6, 2025, opposition parties say that falls short of Parliament’s order for a permanent ban.
Conservative MP Larry Brock also accused the government of shielding itself from accountability.
“In June, I asked a simple question: Where is the lawsuit against GC Strategies? The Liberals had no answer,” Brock wrote in a post last month. “Now we know why. This government is only seeking $198,000 in damages for a $64 million scandal that still not a single minister has taken responsibility for.”
“The Liberals have proven themselves time and time again to be neither transparent nor accountable when it matters most,” he continued. “ArriveScam ripped off Canadian taxpayers, but this government still doesn’t have a real plan to get their money back. This isn’t a new government — it’s the same old Liberals, just with new wax on a broken car.”
The 100-day deadline for repayment expired in late September without a full recovery.
Nothing will improve until the Liberals are gone! Please introduce a non-confidence motion asap! As the Auditor General said this governments level of wasteful spending is UNSUSTAINABLE!
The Conservatives say, "Parliament must be respected,” and the Liberals laugh up their sleeves and say, "Why start now?"