A company that worked on the ArriveCan app is defending its integrity and asserts steps were taken to address conflict-of-interest concerns related to its founder, who recently went to work for the Department of National Defence.

Dalian Enterprises Inc. said David Yeo made the appropriate conflict-of-interest filing, resigned as a director and officer and put his company shares in a blind trust since its main customer is the government of Canada.

Yeo also agreed not to participate in any direct or indirect work that the company was doing for the Defence Department, said a spokesperson for the company.

The spokesperson said in a statement that from 2002 until September 2023, Yeo, a former military member, 害羞草研究所渨as not an employee of the government of Canada in any capacity.害羞草研究所�

He 害羞草研究所渙nly provided IT professional services on a contract basis through Dalian to the Department of National Defence,害羞草研究所� the statement said.

It害羞草研究所檚 the first time the company has publicly responded after CTV News reported last month on Yeo害羞草研究所檚 employment status and Dalian害羞草研究所檚 previous work on ArriveCan. The government paid the company $7.9 million as part of the app害羞草研究所檚 nearly $60-million overall cost.

Following that report, the Defence Department announced that Yeo was suspended and that it had launched an internal investigation.

A week ago, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced it was suspending the company害羞草研究所檚 security status 害羞草研究所渋n response to information that recently came to light.害羞草研究所�

It said that the company would no longer be able to work on federal contracts or participate in new procurement opportunities.

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On Friday, the Defence Department would only say the investigation is still ongoing.

Dalian害羞草研究所檚 spokesperson said Yeo would not be available for an interview.

When he began working for the government in September, the company害羞草研究所檚 work for ArriveCan had long since concluded, the spokesperson said.

Dalian, along with Coradix Technology Consulting, were authorized in August of 2019 to work on various Canada Border Services Agency projects.

That later included the ArriveCan app, which has since fallen under intense scrutiny for its bloated cost.

Coradix has also been suspended from government work.

When Yeo testified before a House of Commons committee in October, he spoke to his integrity. He didn害羞草研究所檛 mention his current employment and wasn害羞草研究所檛 asked about it.

害羞草研究所淒uring my 36-year career with the Canadian army, which included deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East, I was held to the highest levels of integrity, and of course, I continue to conduct myself in this manner today,害羞草研究所� Yeo said.

He was recently invited to speak to the committee again, after the department announced its investigation.

Earlier this week, Canada害羞草研究所檚 auditor General Karen Hogan told MPs at a committee hearing about Yeo害羞草研究所檚 connection to the Department of National Defence.

She said that connection wasn害羞草研究所檛 detected as part of her audit of the ArriveCan project because the Defence Department was not involved in the development of the app.

But she said employees害羞草研究所� full disclosure is 害羞草研究所渆ssential害羞草研究所� so that supervisors can assess if any outside work is incompatible with the person害羞草研究所檚 job, and 害羞草研究所渨hether it might have an impact on their ability to carry out their duties in an objective and fair manner.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淭he disclosure is maybe not always happening, and when the disclosure happens you can take the measures that you need,害羞草研究所� Hogan said.

Hogan said there have been times in her own office when employees disclosed certain information and their employer is 害羞草研究所渇ine with it.害羞草研究所� Other times, that害羞草研究所檚 not the case. But it害羞草研究所檚 up to the supervisor to decide, she said.

The Treasury Board Secretariat said on Friday it does not have centralized records on the number of government of Canada employees that are engaged in outside employment.

Dalian said since the company was founded in 2002, it has been regularly audited by what is now known as Indigenous Services Canada.

That department oversees compliance requirements for Indigenous-owned businesses when it comes to certain procurement opportunities.

害羞草研究所淚n the most recent such audit, conducted December 2023 to February 2024, ISC confirmed that Dalian successfully met (Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business) criteria,害羞草研究所� the spokesperson said.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press