Anand says McKinsey contracts for defence department did not involve ‘state secrets’
Global News
The Department of National Defence has awarded about $30 million in work to McKinsey through 15 contracts since 2011, Anand told a House of Commons committee probing the contracts.
Defence Minister Anita Anand is dismissing opposition concerns about millions of dollars in contracts between her department and McKinsey & Company, saying the company’s work was “not a matter of state secrets.”
Anand made the comments on Monday while testifying to the House of Commons government operations committee, which is looking into the federal contracts awarded to McKinsey and other consulting firms since 2011.
The Department of National Defence has awarded about $30 million in work to McKinsey through 15 contracts since 2011, Anand told committee members. Most of that work dealt with improving the management of human resources and data, she added.
“All of the subject matters of the contracts were in relation to corporate improvement, improvements in the way in which the institutions function,” she said. “This was not a matter of state secrets that were being provided.”
As an example, Anand said the military recently turned to McKinsey to help with its culture-change efforts, which included organizing and reporting on consultations with thousands of Canadian Armed Forces members across the country.
The company also worked with the Royal Canadian Navy to better integrate digital technology into its long-term plans, the committee heard, and helped develop a long-term human-resources strategy for the Canadian Joint Operations Command.
That command is responsible for overseeing all Canadian military operations at home and abroad, sparking Conservative concerns about potential security breaches.
The Tories noted that the company has previously worked with Russia and China, ties that have previously been raised in the U.S. due to McKinsey’s work with the Pentagon.
A crowd of Ubisoft workers and supporters held a rally, urging the video game developer to reopen the studio that was closed earlier this month after a successful union drive.
American Olympian Katie Uhlaender was hoping to be the first woman to compete in the Winter Games six times for the U.S., but fell just short of qualifying.
The U.S. currently has multiple rounds of tariffs on key sectors of the Canadian economy, including steel, aluminum, autos and lumber.
Cree Nation of Mistissini Chief Michael Petawabano is urging members of the community to stay in their homes and lock their doors as police investigate.
Exceptions under the trade deal, known as USMCA in the U.S. and CUSMA in Canada, protect Canada from the heaviest impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when a truck driver went through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team's bus at a rural intersection.
Though a complete freeze is near impossible, a mixture of frozen surface water and mist can create the appearance that Niagara Falls has frozen.
The local police say they were called to a private residence in the Atikamekw community of Manawan on Sunday, and discovered two bodies.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News also found half of Canadians would trust Prime Minister Mark Carney to handle a potential military threat from the U.S.
Four adults face charges after a trespassing investigation at Western University led to a loaded firearm and hazardous chemicals near campus, police say.
The Federal Reserve pushed the pause button on its interest rate cuts Wednesday, leaving its key rate unchanged at about 3.6 per cent after lowering it three times last year.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is in the process of buying a building owned by Jim Pattison Developments to use as an ICE processing facility.
The former U.S. attorney who oversaw the prosecution and conviction of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman tells Global News there are similarities in both cases.