OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — The Public Health Agency of Canada was forced to acknowledge that it has no evidence that the $54 million ArriveCan app program saved lives during the COVID-19 pandemic despite using that as an argument to justify the high cost, according to information obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“The Agency cannot quantify the exact number of lives indirectly saved through ArriveCan,” the agency wrote to the House of Commons government operations committee. “Without the use of restrictive measures and without high levels of vaccination Canada could have experienced higher numbers of infections and hospitalizations.”
The ArriveCan app was mandated by the federal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020. All travelers entering Canada had to use the ArriveCAN app to submit their travel and contact information, as well as any COVID vaccination details, before crossing the border or boarding a flight.
In fall 2021, the government banned the vaccine free from traveling by air, rail or sea domestically and internationally. The requirement was suspended October 1, 2022.
The agency’s statement comes after Minh Doan, chief federal technology officer, testified November 14 that the ArriveCan app may have been expensive, but it saved Canadians’ lives.
“It cost $54 million and it was value for money,” Doan asserted. “As far as I am concerned, it saved lives.”
However, Conservatives pressed for a more complete answer along with data to support the claim.
“Would you provide something in writing to us quantifying that statement?” Conservative MP Kelly McCauley questioned. “We have heard repeatedly from people on the witness stand about how it has miraculously saved lives. Can you let us know how many?”
“Having studied public health, I would think that finding that evidence is going to be very difficult,” Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, a medical doctor, responded.
The app has since become a controversial topic in Canadian politics, as numerous reports have surfaced revealing that the Trudeau government suppressed information regarding the program.
In October, the Trudeau government was exposed for hiding a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into the app from auditors. An investigation of the ArriveCan app began last November after the House of Commons voted 173-149 for a full audit of the controversial app.
Similarly, in November, Doan was threatened with contempt for refusing to give clear answers to questions from MPs regarding his involvement with the much-maligned app.
The program, described by a Canadian border agent as “tyranny,” cost taxpayers $54 million, which MPs pointed out was a suspiciously high expense.
Top constitutional lawyers have said ArriveCAN violates an individual’s constitutional rights, adding that people’s civil liberties on paper have been rendered “meaningless effectively in the real world” because of COVID.