Manitoban Conservative MP Ted Falk posed a question to the Standing Committee on Finance on Friday concerning the revelation from late 2020 that a $237 million contract was awarded by the government to a formal Liberal MP, but received no response from Liberals on the committee.
That awkward moment when you ask why the Liberals awarded a sole-source contact worth $237 million to a former Liberal MP’s company and no one wants to answer. pic.twitter.com/zUt0NAuLSR
— Ted Falk (@MPTedFalk) February 18, 2021
"I think we can all appreciate the need for the government to move quickly at the onset of COVID-19, and at the same time we recognize that we also have a responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayers' dollars," Falk began.
"I'm thinking specifically of contracts that were awarded to businesses during that time. I'm thinking of a situation where there was a company that apparently wasn't even in existence for a week, that got awarded a contract for $237 million and then subsequently subletted that contract to Baylis Medical, the firm of a former Liberal MP," he continued. "I'm just wondering, what criteria did the department use in making decisions like awarding contracts like that?"
No Liberal MP answered his question, although one MP said that she would get back to him on it.
The question from Falk comes months after it was revealed that Baylis Medical, a firm owned by former Liberal MP Frank Baylis, was awarded a $237 million contract to provide ventilators, none of which have been approved for use in any jurisdiction.
The deal was also criticized by NDP MP Charlie Angus, who argued that it reflects a pattern of behaviour after the infamous WE Charity scandal, whereby the Liberals attempted to award a large contract to the charity, which has extensive ties with the Liberal leadership.
"Prior to the We Scandal Canadians had a real sense of trust, that we were in an unprecedented economic and medical crisis, the government is there to work for us, we put our confidence in them, and then we saw the We Scandal," Angus said. "People said, wait a minute: A group that close to the Prime Minister's Office was given that much money? How did that happen?
"The government needs to be on notice that the money they’re spending in a pandemic is an unprecedented amount of money. The money has to go out the door fast, but it has to follow the rules so Canadians' interests are put first, and not just people who know people in the government, not just in the power of the lobbyists."
The government is estimated to have paid $100 million more for the unapproved ventilators from Baylis Medical than it would have for the same number of ventilators from an approved company, according to reports.
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