Briefing binder created for the Deputy Minister of Finance on the occasion of his appearance before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on December 9, 2024 on the Auditor General of Canada's report 8, entitled “Canada Emergency Business Account” - part 11

Media Attention

Issue

PACP members mostly focused on the Accenture contract and the loans issued to ineligible recipients. Media attention focused on these points as well.

Key points

• Most of the media attention prior to the audit related to CEBA focused on the repayment deadline of January 18, 2024, as businesses and lobbyists argued the deadline should have been postponed.
• Another source of media attention was the contract with Accenture, focusing both on the high cost of the contract and its sole-source nature.

Background

Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP)

PACP has had two meetings regarding the CEBA audit, the first being on December 2, when officials from the OAG attended, and the second being on December 4, where officials from both the OAG and EDC attended.

Members focused on the Accenture contract, including the total value of the contract, the sole-source nature and the lack of competitive process, and EDC's need to rely on an external party to begin with. They specifically asked EDC if it informed Finance that it did not have the expertise to administer CEBA on its own and would need to engage an external contractor. As the policy lead, members may ask if Finance knew about EDC's reliance on Accenture.

Members were also concerned about the value of loans issued to ineligible recipients ($3.5 billion). EDC estimates that around $1 billion of this has been repaid and collections efforts are underway to collect the rest.

Other topics covered included the government's decision to not extend the repayment deadline beyond January 18, 2024, and the amount of fraudulent loans (EDC estimates around $1 million, RCMP has been engaged).

Media Attention of the OAG audit

Most of the media attention surrounding the release of the OAG report focused on the sole-source nature of the Accenture contract, the value of funds loaned to ineligible recipients, and the Auditor General's finding that the program lacked "value for money".

Select headlines following the release of the report include:

• Ottawa gave Accenture too much control over $313-million in CEBA sole-source contracts, auditor finds - The Globe and Mail
• COVID-19 loan program paid $3.5 billion to ineligible recipients: AG | National Post
• Pandemic-era CEBA program lacked 'value for money': auditor general | CTV News
• Canada Covid Business Loans Lacked 'Value for Money' Focus, Auditor General Says - Bloomberg
• Canada Fumbled Oversight of Billions in Covid-Era Business Loans, Auditor General Says
• Federal auditor says pandemic loan program lacked control over contract spending | CBC News

During the life of the program, much of the media attention on CEBA was centered around the repayment deadline of January 18, 2024. There was a moderate amount of media attention during the months leading up to this deadline as stakeholders urged the government to postpone the repayment deadline even further. Many of the articles published on CEBA at this time focused on the stories of individual businesses that had to seek additional financing to meet the repayment deadline. A portion of these stories highlighted businesses that received CEBA but later found out they were not eligible.

Another significant source of media attention surrounding CEBA was the contract with Accenture, especially the cost and the sole-source nature of the contract. The contract garnered media attention both when it was confirmed that it was a sole-source contract and when it was revealed that some of Accenture's work was completed in Brazil.

Pre-audit headlines include:

• "Organized crime 'knowingly and actively' exploited federal pandemic benefits: intelligence reports" - November 12, 2021
• "Ottawa could lose more than $5-billion in CEBA pandemic loans to small businesses" - September 13, 2022
• "Small businesses now told ineligible for CEBA loans worried: CFIB" - October 17, 2022
• "Undisclosed federal Accenture contract was worth $146 million" - April 7, 2023
• "Ottawa confirms Accenture was given $208-million sole-source contract for CEBA program" - June 30, 2023
• "Repaying pandemic loans adds to small businesses' struggles – one in five will shutter" - July 3, 2023
• "Conservative senators say Ottawa giving them 'runaround' on Accenture's $208-million CEBA contract" - October 20, 2023
• "Premiers across Canada call for extension of CEBA loan repayment deadline" - October 21, 2023
• "Extending CEBA forgiveness deadline another year would cost Ottawa $907M: PBO" - November 23, 2023
• "B.C. watchmaker faces $40K bill, deemed ineligible for pandemic loan" - December 15, 2023
• "'Critical' part of Accenture's CEBA contract done in Brazil, despite Ottawa's claim work was Canadian" - December 16, 2023
• "She received the CEBA loan more than 3 years ago — her bank now says she wasn't eligible" - December 18, 2023
• "Thousands of CEBA loan recipients face early deadline to pay over application errors" - December 28, 2023
• "Local businesses say they had to take on more debt to pay off pandemic CEBA loan" - January 18, 2024
• "'D-day' for northern Ontario small businesses who used government loans to survive COVID" - January 18, 2024
• "Estimated quarter of businesses missed CEBA repayment deadline, Ottawa says" - January 22, 2024
• "Over 200,000 small businesses took on new debt to repay their CEBA loan" - March 26, 2024
• "'Nobody ever has 40 extra grand': Business owners feel ripple effects of CEBA repayments" - April 3, 2024