Guelph MP Voted Against ArriveCan Reimbursement Motion
- Wednesday, June 18th, 2025 - 9:54 am
- 2524
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Guelph’s newly elected Member of Parliament, Dominique O’Rourke, voted against a Conservative motion this week that called on the federal government to recover the approximately $64 million paid to GC Strategies for work on the troubled ArriveCan app. The motion, passed by a vote of 172–165 on June 17, 2025, was supported by the Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois, while every Liberal MP, including O’Rourke, opposed it.
The motion specifically called for reimbursement to Canadian taxpayers for the tens of millions paid to GC Strategies—an IT staffing firm at the center of an Auditor General report and multiple investigations into federal contracting mismanagement.
Although the Liberal government has pointed to steps it has already taken—such as banning GC Strategies from future contracts and revoking its security clearance—none of those measures involve recovering the funds already paid. Government officials have cited ongoing investigations and procurement reviews as justification for rejecting the motion, suggesting that the issue is already being “handled.”
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However, the Conservative motion was not about audits or future reforms. It focused narrowly and explicitly on reimbursing taxpayers, a financial outcome the Liberal government’s existing actions do not currently achieve or even pursue. In voting against it, O’Rourke and her Liberal colleagues opposed the one motion in Parliament that directly called for money to be returned to the public.
While some Liberals and aligned commentators have dismissed the motion as “political theatre,” that criticism does not address the core issue: Canadians have not been reimbursed—and this motion was the first clear directive to make that happen.
Despite increased public pressure for accountability and fiscal responsibility, no Liberal MP has publicly explained why they would oppose a taxpayer refund—especially in light of a well-documented misuse of funds tied to a now-notorious government app.
The vote puts Guelph’s representative on record as siding against a measure aimed at tangible restitution for taxpayers, even as frustration with federal spending continues to mount.
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