Two employees working for Canada’s auditor general have been fired for not disclosing money they received through government contracts, with a third now under police investigation.
Spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor General Natasha Leduc confirmed that three of its own employees had undeclared contracts within the Government of Canada.
Two were fired. The Ottawa Police Service and the Office of the Auditor General say they are investigating the third employee who was recently discovered to be covertly holding contracts with a separate arm of the federal government.
Inquiries into the two fired employees came as a result of a contract worth almost $8 million given to them to work on the ArriveCan app. Leduc said the investigations span back to the summer.
“The (Office of the Auditor General) conducted its own investigations in both cases. The investigations began in June 2023 and concluded in September in one case and December in the other. Based on the results of the investigations, the OAG revoked the individual’s security clearance and terminated employment,” said Leduc.
It raises questions about who audits the auditor, as concerns persist about government employees not following their own employment codes in light of the ArriveCan app scandal, which continues to balloon.
Auditor General Karen Hogan said it’s “essential” for public servants to disclose any secondary income they may be receiving to their managers so an assessment can be made as to whether there is a conflict of interest.
That doesn’t always happen however, noted Hogan, who revealed that her office found numerous “incidents where disclosure did not happen” amongst its own employees.
The cases were ultimately referred to the Ottawa Police Service last month as a result of government directives that call for “security events that could potentially be related to criminal activity be referred to law enforcement.”
Leduc declined to identify who the employees were on the basis of privacy concerns however she did confirm that none of the employees were auditors, nor in management.
Arianne Reza, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement testified before the committee last week that five employees within her department were fired or resigned in the past year for not disclosing conflicts of interest.
She claimed it was a problem with how the current system only operates based on attestations, meaning vendors must sign an attestation during contracts bids so that they won’t place themselves in a conflict of interest situation as public servants.
Leduc noted that it’s incumbent on public servants to make their manager aware of secondary income sources so that their manager can’t properly vet the circumstances.
