联邦自由党再曝合同丑闻：公众信任危机加剧（观点，中英对照）

近期审计总长发布的报告再一次将自由党政府浪费加国纳税人资金行为置于镁光灯执行。报告揭露了在加拿大疫情期紧急商业账户（CEBA）项目管理中存在的严重问题，包括向咨询公司埃森哲（Accenture Inc.）赠与总额高达3.13亿加元的"唯一公司"合同。埃森哲完全未经过竞争性招标程序的情况下，被授予了该项旨在管理疫情紧急救援金管理的合同。作为联邦政府的皇家企业的加拿大出口发展公司EDC，受托负责为近90万家小企业在疫情期间提供贷款，而EDC则将92%的相关合同外包给了埃森哲公司。

The Liberal government is facing intensified scrutiny following a damning Auditor-General report exposing the mismanagement of $313 million in sole-source contracts awarded to consulting firm Accenture Inc. for administering the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program. Designed to provide loans to nearly 900,000 small businesses during the pandemic, the program was delegated to Export Development Canada (EDC), which outsourced 92% of CEBA-related contracts to Accenture without competitive bidding.

审计报告揭示，加拿大出口发展局（EDC）在合同定价和供应商选择等关键环节上给予埃森哲（Accenture）过度的控制权，暴露出一系列重大管理问题。一个明显的实例就是对为小企业就CEBA资金发放等提供支持的客服中心的管理。尽管该中心最初阶段受到大量咨询，因而每通电话的平均成本为40加元，但到2023年，随着来电量的大幅下降，每通电话的平均成本竟飙升至589加元。更令人担忧的是报销账目支出中出现的严重误差，埃森哲报账时按每名客服每天工作14小时的工作量计费，而客服中心每天仅运营9小时。这些误差反映了EDC缺乏对项目支出进行严谨监管，导致成本失控并暴露出合同管理中的存在的更深层的问题。

The audit uncovered critical failures, including EDC granting Accenture excessive control over contract terms, pricing, and vendor selection processes. A striking example is the management of a call center established to assist small businesses. Initially, the center handled a high volume of inquiries, costing an average of $40 per call. However, as call volumes dropped dramatically by 2023, costs skyrocketed to an average of $589 per call. Discrepancies in billing practices further highlighted oversight failures, with Accenture invoicing for 14 hours of work per agent per day, despite the center being operational for only nine hours. These lapses reflect systemic failures in monitoring expenditures, enabling unchecked cost escalation.

更有甚者，当加拿大出口发展局（EDC）将对提供贷款会计系统的选择也完全委托给埃森哲（Accenture）公司。埃森哲在遴选过程供应商过程中非但未能保证公平性，并且将合同拱手让给了其位于巴西的子公司One Financial，构成利益冲突，凸显出在管理公共资金方面缺严重乏问责和透明度。

The mismanagement deepened when EDC delegated vendor selection for a loan-accounting system to Accenture. Instead of ensuring a fair process, Accenture awarded the contract to its own subsidiary, Brazil-based One Financial, in a clear conflict of interest. This further underscored the lack of accountability and transparency in managing public funds.

但这可不是自由党政府的头一遭合同赠与丑闻。臭名昭著的ArriveCan开发就是一例。最初预算为8万加元的ArriveCan开发，最终成本飙升至5400万加元，也是类似的外包管理不善使然，使数百万资金流向了几乎没有从事任何IT工作的承包商。同样，WE慈善机构丑闻也暴露了合同授予过程中缺乏透明度的典型事例。联邦政府绕过竞争性招标程序，将一项价值5.43亿加元的合同授予了与特鲁多总理家族关系密切的WE慈善组织。该慈善机构的恶劣财务状况以及对项目管理缺乏有效管理能力，凸显了监督体系的严重失效，并进一步削弱了公众对自由党政府管理公共资源的信心。

This pattern of governance failure echoes previous controversies. The ArriveCan app, initially estimated to cost $80,000, ballooned to $54 million due to similar outsourcing mismanagement, with millions flowing to contractors who performed little or no IT work. Likewise, the WE Charity scandal laid bare a troubling lack of transparency when the government bypassed a competitive bidding process to award a $543 million contract to an organization with close ties to Prime Minister Trudeau’s family. The charity’s financial instability and inability to manage the program underscored systemic flaws in oversight, further eroding confidence in the government’s stewardship of public resources.

批评人士指出，核心问题在于联邦政府缺乏强有力的合同监督机制。例如，加拿大财政部声嘶力竭辩护称，它没有法律义务监督像CEBA这样的项目的行政支出。正因为法律职责的不明确性才使得像加拿大出口发展局（EDC）这样的皇家企业能够我行我素，在缺乏制衡机制情况下，导致这里丑闻一而再，再而三地发生。

Critics argue that a key issue lies in the absence of robust oversight mechanisms. Finance Canada, for instance, defended its role by asserting that it has no legislative mandate to monitor administrative expenditures for programs like CEBA. This abdication of responsibility leaves Crown corporations such as EDC to act independently, often without sufficient checks and balances, enabling repeated governance failures.

这些丑闻的恶劣影响远不止于财政浪费，更严重损害了加拿大以廉洁和高效治理著称的国际声誉。随着丑闻接连曝光，加拿大作为道德管理典范的形象因自由党政府领导下各部门推诿扯皮、监管不力的行为而大打折扣。这些屡次发生的失误凸显了渥太华在保护纳税人资金方面的责任缺失，而对于已经在物价飞涨、生活成本高企的困境中挣扎的加拿大人来说，这无疑是更难以接受的现实。如果自由党政府继续一意孤行，无视改革呼声，其信誉和威望将进一步丧失，最终必将面临不可挽回的下台局面。

The consequences of these scandals extend beyond financial waste, striking at the core of Canada’s global reputation for integrity and effective governance. With these controversies mounting, Canada’s image as a model of ethical stewardship is being overshadowed by concerns about faltering accountability under the Liberal government. These repeated missteps reveal a troubling disregard for the safeguarding of public funds—a bitter reality for Canadians already grappling with rising living costs and an affordability crisis. Without meaningful reforms, public trust will continue to erode, ultimately undermining the government's ability to maintain its hold on power.