Morneau Shepell’s contract work with the federal government has steadily dropped in value since the Liberals’ election win at the end of 2015.

In 2016, the government signed contracts with Morneau Shepell totalling $746,292.79. In 2017, that figure dropped to $682,603.09.

A yearly comparison of the sums earned by Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s former firm suggest the Harper government was more keen on employing Morneau Shepell — or Morneau Shepell was more active in seeking government work before the change of government.

In 2015, Morneau Shepell signed contracts with the federal government worth $3,342,001.21. In 2014, the company signed just $1,075,233.39 worth of contracts. In 2013 alone, the government awarded $9,301,723.42 in contracts to the HR company — up from $8,781,422.42 in 2012.

The previous government’s investments in Morneau Shepell took a dip in 2011, when it signed government contracts worth $927,094.25 with the company. The year previous was particularly lucrative for the firm — $26,241,832.90 in federal government contracts in 2010.

These figures were all calculated using the government’s response to NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice’s order paper question, which asked the government to list all its contracts with Morneau Shepell from the start of 2010 to Oct. 4, 2017. An additional order paper submitted by Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, which lists the government’s contracts with Morneau Shepell for another two weeks, does not show any new contracts from Oct. 4-17, 2017.

Many of these contracts span multiple years. Even if you assume the government spent the amount awarded in each contract in its entirety during each year that the contracts span, there is still a drop in dollar figures in 2016 and 2017.

Interestingly, this drop isn’t reflected in the number of contracts signed between the government and Morneau Shepell.

The government signed eight contracts with Morneau Shepell in 2017 and 16 in 2016. In 2015, the previous government signed 12 contracts with the HR company, preceded by nine in 2014, 33 in 2013, a whopping 70 in 2012, 13 in 2011 and 10 in 2010.

When we add the total number of contracts that were active with Morneau Shepell between 2010 and 2017 — which includes everything from short-term contracts to multi-year ones — the numbers get beefed up, but they still only reflect a small drop in 2017.

This means that the government hasn’t stopped awarding contracts to Morneau Shepell — but the contracted amounts have gotten smaller.

Morneau Shepell dismisses the suggestion that the dollar drop is based on any business or government decisions.

“This is a normal trend for obtaining government contracts, as the competitions are cyclical and initiated by each of the departments and agencies. This fluctuation is standard and to be expected whenever there is a change in government as new priorities and strategies are determined and implemented internally,” reads a statement from Morneau Shepell.

The company also notes that its work with the federal government makes up a “small percentage of (its) total business portfolio” and that all that work was won through “competitive, transparent competitions.”

Public Services and Procurement Canada also highlighted the fairness of the procurement process.

“Morneau-Shepell, like all other companies, is free to bid on government solicitations and will be evaluated in a fair, open and transparent manner,” read a statement from Public Services and Procurement Canada.