Ottawa, ON – Leslyn Lewis, Conservative Shadow Minister for Digital Government and Artificial Intelligence, released the following statement on the appointment of Patrick Pichette to lead Carney’s new digital bureaucracy:
“At a time when Canadians are deeply concerned about what AI means for them and their families, and Canadians have just been hit with 42,000 new job losses, Mark Carney is making his 13th new bureaucracy to give more high-profile jobs to loyal members of the Liberal club.
“The latest comes at Digital Transformation Canada, where Patrick Pichette has been given the top job. A well-connected Liberal executive, Mr. Pichette made the maximum allowable donation to Mark Carney’s Liberal leadership campaign in early 2025.
“Nearly a year and a half into his tenure, Canadians can see that the Prime Minister is reading from the same Liberal songsheet, with more taxpayer-funded positions at more new bureaucracies for friends and insiders while most Canadians struggle.
“Mr. Pichette, a former McKinsey colleague of Dominic Barton, Carney’s new Chair of Invest in Canada, has been tasked with embedding outside experts into the civil service. He joins the newly-formed digital bureaucracy from a venture capital firm that makes its money from AI and software startups, raising important questions around potential conflicts of interest.
“Embedding corporate insiders into the civil service has proved problematic before, with the Auditor General finding that rules were broken in 90% of the $200 million in contracts that were awarded to Dominic Barton’s firm McKinsey.
“Mr. Pichette also served on the board of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, spending more than two years as Chair. The same Foundation was ultimately embroiled in a cash-for-access scandal after donations – including foreign contributions – spiked after Justin Trudeau’s election as Liberal leader. Questions arose at the time about Mr. Pichette’s role in securing a $25,000 USD sponsorship from Google, then his employer.
“Once again, the Liberals are focused on rewarding their well-connected friends, while Canadians get stuck with the bill. Conservatives will always fight for a country where all Canadians can get ahead, not just members of the Liberal club.”