The federal government sold off ventilators bought during the COVID-19 pandemic for scrap in an effort to “further understand” the recycling process. The respiratory devices purchased from Starfish Medical as part of a $169.5 million sole-sourced contract cost $22,600 each.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, documents made available through an access to information filing indicate the ventilators were recycled while the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing and as the federal government was imposing harsh restrictions on the public under the guise of protecting a strained health-care system.
DOCUMENTS: @GovCanHealth scrapped $22K @StarFishMedical ventilators for pennies while pandemic was still running hot just to “further understand” recycling, feds @PSPC_SPAC claim. https://t.co/zbxBshxlme #cdnpoli #cdnfoi pic.twitter.com/QHXrGRQTsO
— Blacklock’s Reporter (@mindingottawa) May 29, 2024
Ventilators were sold for as little as $6 each to a high of $21.39 a piece by August 24, 2022. The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID scare on May 5, 2023.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces a deal to produce 30,000 made-in-Canada ventilators, and is questioned on Canada’s need for those ventilators. Read more: https://t.co/dS86u3DERR pic.twitter.com/enb1JexTiA
— CTV News (@CTVNews) April 7, 2020
“There was one negotiated sale of four ventilator samples with conditions to recycling organizations for the purposes of industry engagement in efforts to further understand constraints and considerations of recycling,” wrote the Department of Public Works.
The Starfish Medical contract was one of a number of rushed pandemic-era medical device contracts.
Liberal Frank Baylis’ company received a nearly $4 million contract for maintenance of ventilators Canada never used.
That’s on top of his sole source contract to build the 10,000 ventilators at $237 million. https://t.co/yNupSxQ6w9
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) March 22, 2024
Former Liberal MP Frank Baylis was awarded a handful of those contracts, including a 2023 $3.7 million “preventive maintenance” contract to Baylis Medical Company. The company was awarded a sole-sourced contract as part of a 2020 $237 million deal.
