Over the past decade in Ottawa, McKinsey & Company, a management consulting company has been contracted by the Federal Government to help digitize the Canadian navy, create a ten-year plan for a government-owned bank, modernize leadership at our border services agency, provide an international view on transforming our immigration department, and much more. Government figures reveal that between 2011 and 2023, McKinsey was awarded ninety-seven contracts totalling more than $209 million, of which, 70 percent were non-competitive contracts.
Outside consultants have long been a fact of life in Ottawa. And often, contracts are awarded without competition. But there now appears to be an increasing concentration of contracts being awarded to McKinsey & Company. One of my interviewees for our governance research highlighted this as a major problem even affecting good governance.
There have been questions about the value for money obtained from these contracts, but two questions bother me. What kinds of influence does McKinsey & Company play on decision-makers because of preferential access and further, why are not their professional civil servants valued more for providing analysis and advice rather than consulting firms?
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