Trudeau Liberals prioritized Quebec when distributing COVID masks: Internal emails

According to internal emails, federal agencies quietly arranged to ship hundreds of thousands of COVID masks to Quebec when all other provinces faced shortages. Political aides in the Prime Minister’s Office stressed "we should be careful about what we say" in giving Québec preferential treatment.

Internal emails dating from the first weeks of the pandemic disclose the Department of Foreign Affairs had its own Ottawa stockpile of 400,000 surgical masks, reported Blacklocks. All hospitals at the time faced a "massive shortage of personal protective equipment," according to a March 30, 2020 staff email.

Aides on March 21 said Quebec asked for supplies "far greater than what other provinces are asking for." Sabrina Kim, then-advisor to the prime minister, wrote: "We may have a problem with them, and it may be helpful to manage their expectations a bit."

"We can probably expect Quebec and perhaps some other provinces to publicly say in the media, 'Hey, we asked for stuff, and we’re not getting it,' and we should be careful about what say in response," she said.

"Here is Quebec’s answer," read a March 28 staff email. "International procurement is uncertain. There are fears companies might not respect contracts because of the chaos in the United States and Europe. That is why our discourse has now changed." The email subject heading was marked: "Quebec stockpiling."

Later on April 1, the Prime Minister’s executive director of operations, Matt Stickney, said the Department of Foreign affairs stockpile should go to Quebec. At the time, all supplies were to be distributed evenly to provinces through the Public Health Agency.

"The plan is for them to go to QC, but we may want to make sure that is part of the larger strategy, and the PM may call the premier," wrote Director Stickney.

"No problem!" replied an aide in the foreign affairs department. Staff identified 400,000 surgical masks they could ship to Quebec.

Cabinet aides at the time knew other provinces were also clamouring for supplies, according to internal emails. "NEW: Premier Doug Ford says he hopes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau awards Ontario its 'fair share,'" read an April 4, 2020 staff email.

Internal records were confirmed within days of the pandemic’s outbreak on March 11, 2020. Federal agencies were aware of shortages so severe that shipping date-expired supplies to provinces or none at all.

"There is a massive shortage of personal protective equipment," read a March 30 staff email in the Prime Minister’s Office. "Everybody wants it, and we won’t have enough to go around."

Canada's top doctor Dr. Theresa Tam argued masks were ineffective or possibly even harmful to wear on at least seven separate occasions prior to April 7, 2020. Tam dismissed mask-wearing as recently as April 3, and as recently as April 1 insisted such measures could be harmful.

"The effectiveness of the use of non-medical masks has not been well demonstrated," she said on April 1. "You have to be careful you’re not putting your finger in your eye, or when you’re pulling your mask on and off you’re not touching your face in other ways."

The recommendations against mask-wearing as a protective measure against COVID came despite Canada actively shipping masks and other medical supplies to China. The Trudeau Liberals said they were following the advice of the World Health Organization at the time.

However, she later recommended Canadians who are fully vaccinated to wear masks indoors during the fourth wave of COVID.