Trudeau government’s failure on medical supplies cost taxpayers $500 MILLION

Figures submitted to the Commons government operations committee confirm that Department of Public Works has to pay a whopping 380 percent markup for supplies that are needed by nurses, doctors, and other frontline medical workers.

“On the mask question, you’re seeing a range of prices for masks,” Deputy Minister Bill Matthews said in Parliament. “When this crisis started we were looking at about $1.20 a mask if you had orders early on. More recent orders, you’re seeing prices quoted up to five or six dollars a mask, for N95 respirators.”

“So, the cost of masks depends on when you placed your order, frankly, and when you had your arrangements in place,” said Matthews.

“So if the stockpile had been stocked up we would have saved a lot of money,” concluded Conservative MP Kelly McCauley.

According to Blacklocks, 130,000,000 hospital-grade masks were ordered from Chinese suppliers: "The orders at inflated prices are worth up to $780 million compared to pre-pandemic costs of $162.5 million, an excess charge of $617.5 million."

At the beginning of the month, Health Minister Patty Hadju confessed that the national stockpile of medical supplies had not been stocked up prior to the coronavirus crisis, saying "We likely did not have enough" when asked by a reporter.

Blacklocks reports that "The Public Health Agency executive responsible for the national stockpile, vice-president Sally Thornton, testified April 22 at the Commons health committee that she did not know how many masks were on hand before the pandemic."

"Someone needs to be held accountable. Governments have received recommendations from experts saying buying equipment in a time of crisis is not the best way to proceed." said Andrew Scheer.