Federal committee will probe contracts with other consulting firms, not just McKinsey

OTTAWA –

A parliamentary committee probing federal contracts awarded to McKinsey & Company will now look into other consulting firms’ relationships with Ottawa.

New Democrat MP Gord Johns brought forward a motion to expand the scope of the study and MPs on the committee unanimously approved it on Monday.

McKinsey has received attention in recent weeks after media reports highlighted the rapid growth of the company’s work for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

The committee has now decided to invite executives from Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Accenture, KPMG and Ernst & Young to testify about their own significant dealings with Ottawa.

Outsourcing to such firms has increased across the government in recent years — a trend that some researchers say erodes the abilities of federal workers to carry out their work.

Amanda Clarke, an associate professor of public administration at Carleton University, said at a committee meeting last month that the study should focus on the public service’s reliance on consulting firms overall.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2023.