The federal authorities is defending a contract it awarded to worldwide skilled companies firm KPMG, saying the corporate helped the Pure Assets division establish methods it may lower your expenses on actual property and knowledge expertise.
“There are occasions if you really want an exterior perspective that will help you to consider how one can discover price efficiencies … There are occasions the place organizations are literally used to doing issues in a sure approach and an exterior perspective can assist you discover efficiencies,” Pure Assets Minister Jonathan Wilkinson instructed reporters Tuesday on his approach into cupboard.
“And that was what this was all about, to really assist us cut back prices.”
Wilkinson’s feedback got here within the wake of reports stories saying the federal government paid KPMG almost $670,000 to search out methods to economize — and after the the Trudeau authorities introduced an initiative to tighten spending and cut back its reliance on outdoors consultants.
Wilkinson stated KPMG’s contract predates that initiative.
“The contract was issued nicely earlier than finances 2023, which was the dedication round decreasing consulting,” he stated. “So it occurred a very long time in the past and the main target was truly on serving to us cut back prices on actual property and IT.”
Miriam Galipeau, spokesperson for the Pure Assets division, stated the contract was awarded in July 2022 “to provide analyses on cost-saving alternatives, particularly in IT and actual property.”
She stated the division was additionally capable of leverage its pre-existing contract with KPMG to “assist [the department’s] proposal to the Treasury Board due in October 2023.”
The division has not but responded to questions on how a lot KPMG recognized in potential financial savings.
Within the Home of Commons, NDP MP Gord Johns tabled a query asking for particulars of any contracts awarded to outdoors companies for assist in figuring out spending cuts. In response, Pure Assets offered particulars of two duties assigned to KPMG — one valued at $325,000 that was due Aug. 25, 2023 and one other at $344,650, due Oct. 31, 2023.
The primary activity was to search out methods to optimize IT prices; it produced three stories associated to price discount alternatives in areas equivalent to IT contracting, desktop cloud-based computing and software program asset administration.
Titles for the second activity had been marked merely “TBD” (to be decided).
No different authorities division indicated that it had employed an outdoor firm to assist it discover price financial savings.
Anita Anand stated she has taken steps since being named Treasury Board president to cut back the federal government’s reliance on outdoors consultants and issued steerage for presidency departments on outsourcing.
She stated the rules “require anybody contemplating utilizing exterior consultants to make sure that they comply with these tips, together with enterprise a evaluation of whether or not these companies could be carried out throughout the Authorities of Canada, and in addition to make sure that that is completely mandatory throughout the context by which it’s being proposed.
“All in all, what we try to do is to make sure that we take a risk-based strategy to using exterior consultants.”
Anand stated particulars of how the federal government plans to cut back its spending can be tabled quickly within the Home of Commons.
Kevin Dove, spokesperson for KPMG, declined to remark.
