Records obtained through access-to-information reveal that millions of dollars’ worth of ventilators purchased by the federal government from a Montreal company during the pandemic have been discarded.
Out of the 8,200 ventilators delivered by CAE Inc., 8,180 were designated for sale as scrap metal. The fate of the remaining 20 devices is unknown, as per the records reviewed by The Epoch Times.
The firm was awarded a sole-sourced contract worth approximately $283 million on April 9, 2020, shortly after laying off 1,500 employees, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The reasons behind scrapping the 8,180 CAE ventilators were not specified in the government records. However, a note in the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) document mentioned that CAE had lost its Medical Device License authorization from Health Canada. It remains unclear if any of the CAE ventilators were utilized in medical settings before being earmarked for sale as scrap metal.
Internal emails within the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that CAE ventilators failed Health Canada tests twice and were deemed defective. A staff email dated Sept. 10, 2020, stated that CAE’s initial delivery was subpar, with serious issues noted. A subsequent review highlighted significant safety concerns for patients.
Efforts to obtain comments from CAE, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), and PHAC were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The sales in August 2022 coincided with Ottawa reinstating travel restrictions and mandatory random testing due to ongoing pandemic concerns. The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 emergency on May 5, 2023.
According to Auditor General Karen Hogan, nearly 14,000 ventilators acquired under a $700 million pandemic program were immediately stored as surplus. Figures reveal that out of the 37,500 ventilators ordered from four Canadian manufacturers during the pandemic, 27,499 were delivered. Approximately 13,614 ventilators were deemed surplus, with some being sold as scrap, including the StarFish devices.
Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
Please provide a new version of the text for me to rewrite.
Source link
