Colin
The Department of Public Works provided no reason for ‘archiving’ pandemic accounts July 9. Rebel News was stonewalled for years on the $237 million ventilator contract to former Liberal MP Frank Baylis.
Cabinet abruptly scrubbed dozens of government web pages detailing more than $24 billion in payments to COVID-19 contractors, records show. Treasury Board President Anita Anand promised greater transparency weeks ago.
“As of Tuesday July 9 the webpages of Covid-19 contracting are no longer available publicly on the Department of Public Works’ website,” said Jeremy Link, spokesperson for the department. The aim was to be “open” and “transparent” about Canada’s pandemic response “with the understanding they would serve a temporary purpose.”
The webpages were first posted after the government operations committee passed a 2021 motion that mandated disclosure of financial accounts every 30 days.
“We owe it to Canadians,” Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, now-chair of the committee, said at the time. “There are untold billions being spent and we owe it to Canadians and Members of Parliament to see this spending.”
Details of contracting will only be disclosed “upon request,” said Link. The accounts were “archived” but not publicly inaccessible, Blacklock’s Reporter found.
Some 34 webpages had detailed line by line payments to mainly sole-sourced suppliers for goods from vinyl gloves to ventilators. Payments totaled $24,405,139,945.
President Anand in June 19 testimony at the Commons government operations committee promised “trust and transparency” in public spending. “We are aiming to make more transparent some of the documents of the federal government,” she said.
Anand in March 20 committee testimony promised “improvements to the proactive disclosure of government contracts” so taxpayers could track spending. “We want to make sure we have transparency in government contracting,” she said.
“We will ensure the leaders of our public service manage their organizations efficiently and in a manner that maintains public confidence,” Anand said.
“But parliamentary scrutiny and approval of expenditure plans are only part of the equation,” she added, including “wise” and “responsible” investments of taxpayer dollars.
The Department of Public Works provided no reason for deleting the pandemic accounts July 9. That followed several Access To Information requests by Blacklock’s to calculate unit charges for goods like ventilators. Cabinet refused disclosure by invoking commercial privacy.
Rebel News first requested documents concerning a ventilator contract to a company owned by former Liberal MP Frank Baylis. Those efforts have been stonewalled since December 2020.
The sole-sourced March 2020 contract for 10,000 ventilators came in at $237 million. FTI Professional Grade, an obscure company, received the contract one week after its inception. They subcontracted the contract to Baylis Medical,
Manufactured in Mississauga, Ontario, the ventilators, based on an identical model manufactured by Medtronic, were sold for $23,700 per unit. That’s $10,000 more than the Medtronic model.
More than 90% of the Baylis ventilators were never used and collected dust in a warehouse as medical surplus. Another 350 were shipped to India without the proper adapter to use them, worth $9 a piece. Only 50 adapters were shipped.
Baylis later received a $3.7 million contract February 16, 2022 for “preventive maintenance” on 2,000 ventilators.
