Madam Speaker, $2,600 was, according to his testimony, the hourly rate earned by one Kristian Firth on the ArriveCAN app or what many people are calling the arrive scam scandal. There was a simple question that I asked the minister, and I did not get a response. Does he think that $2,600 an hour was a reasonable rate?

As such, I am back in the House at midnight to ask the same question again.

Kristian Firth, with his partner, at a two-person company, worked out of their basement. They got this massive contract to build the ArriveCAN app, and they did not do any work on the app; they simply received the contract and subcontracted it. For their pains of getting the contract and going on LinkedIn to find people who actually did IT work and who could actually build an app, the company, GC Strategies, Kristian Firth, got $2,600 an hour.

This is at a time when many Canadians are struggling, and Canadians are paying higher taxes than ever before. The government is showing such disdain for their money that it is giving money to these well-connected insider friends of the government to simply receive contracts and to subcontract at a rate of $2,600 an hour, according to Kristian Firth's testimony. Based on some of the surrounding numbers, I would say that it is actually a fairly conservative estimate, “conservative” not in the good sense but a conservative estimate of $2,600 per hour.

I am repeating the question several times because I want to make sure that the parliamentary secretary is without excuse and that he will stand up and answer the question that has been asked, which is the question the minister declined to answer. This is the question: $2,600 per hour was the rate, according to his own testimony, that Kristian Firth earned on the ArriveCAN app. It was not for building the app and not for designing the app, but it was simply for going on LinkedIn and for finding other people to build the app, something that the public service could have likely done itself.

Does the parliamentary secretary believe that $2,600 per hour was a reasonable rate for Kristian Firth to be earning? The parliamentary secretary is without excuse. I have asked the question several times. Does the parliamentary secretary believe that $2,600 per hour was a reasonable rate for Kristian Firth to earn on the arrive scam app? Does he believe $2,600 was a reasonable rate?

I await the parliamentary secretary's response to my question.

Garnett Genuis

$591,290.00