Global News

Tipped that there was something fishy about the awarding of government contracts to provide rapid tests for COVID-19, Global News launched a series of investigations into the murky world of federal procurement. Anchored by reporter Patti Sonntag, aided by other reporter teams and a fruitful collaboration with First Nations University, Global News uncovered a raft of questionable practices that prompted parliamentary committee studies, probes by the country’s ethics commissioner and two separate audits. Among its findings was proof that excessively priced multibillion-dollar contracts were awarded to an importer of Chinese products for rapid COVID tests, while Canadian firms offering lower prices were bypassed. The reporters further discovered that cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault was in a potential conflict of interest over contracts secured by his former business partner; Boissonnault eventually resigned. Most impactful was Global’s deep dive into self-professed Indigenous companies that benefited from lucrative contracts awarded under the government’s Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business. The team exposed a litany of loopholes, lack of scrutiny and serious shortcomings in the program, with many contracts going to companies that were Indigenous only on paper, and with few benefits winding up in Indigenous communities.