Editor’s Note: The statement from the Gap has been updated to show it is from Gap Inc. spokesperson John Strain, head of e-commerce and technology.
As part of its back-to-school policy, Alberta’s UCP government recently announced students would have to wear masks. As a result, the government is buying 1.7-million reusable masks for children, the vast majority of which will be made outside of Canada.
The provincial government normally has to put out a request for proposals when making purchases like this in order for companies to be able to bid on the job.
In this case, the government skipped over that step and awarded contracts without allowing for public bidding.
Two companies will be making the masks, Red Deer-based IFR Workwear and international clothing retailer Old Navy.
IFR Workwear said it will be supplying nearly 10 per cent of the masks — about 150,000 — while Old Navy will supply 90 per cent.
In a statement to Global News, Gap Inc. Canada’s (Old Navy’s parent company) head of e-commerce and technology, John Strain, said its 1.55-million masks will be made in China.
Strain wrote that the masks will be made using three layers of 100 per cent cotton and with elastic ear straps “designed per CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ) recommendations for non-medical grade masks.”
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Lyn Radford, the community relations spokesperson for IFR Workwear, said her company’s masks will be made locally in Red Deer, as well as at a manufacturing plant in Mexico.
“Because the plant in Mexico is bigger, it would probably be a bigger portion in Mexico and a smaller portion in Red Deer,” Radford said.
Premier Jason Kenney was touting Alberta’s Bits and Pieces program earlier in the pandemic, saying Alberta companies were stepping up to supply much-needed medical supplies.
Concerns are now being raised about where Alberta’s masks are being made and why.
As CBC first reported, IFR Workwear (along with Lyn Radford and company founder Reg Radford) has donated more than $10,000 to the Progressive Conservatives (the party that later merged with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP) in Alberta since 2006, according to financial disclosure documents.
Reg also donated $2,000 specifically to Education Minister Adriana LeGrange’s 2019 election campaign in which she ran as a UCP candidate.
Lyn said she believes IFR was chosen because of the quality of its masks, not political bias.
“We did not reach out to the province to tell them that we have these masks,” she said.
“It was one of our distributors that got the contract with the province.”
Lyn would not name the distributor, citing privacy policies, but said other distributors asked IFR for quotes as well.
She said the distributor acts as a middle man, keeping IFR at arm’s length.
“They ask us for a quote on it and ask us how fast and how much we can deliver in a very short time,” Lyn explained. “We give them all those specifications. They came back to us and we just heard late Friday that our masks were going to be used.
“We do support the UCP, there’s no doubt about it. That is out there — we can’t take that away.”
Lyn said IFR’s masks will have ear-loops, are made with bio-smart material and can be washed up to 75 times. They’ll come in three sizes — think elementary, junior high and high school.
The company has been making adult-sized masks for months.
“Children’s masks we had just started, it is a newer product for us,” Lyn said. “But all our materials are North American-made.”
READ MORE: Alberta Grade 4-12 students, teachers will be required to wear masks in schools this fall
UCP spokesperson Timothy Gerwig said the contracts were awarded without involvement from Minister LaGrange or Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu.
“Choices were made by non-partisan bureaucrats at the POC (Provincial Operations Centre), who evaluated whether a company could meet both quality requirements and the demands of a large order in a very short amount of time,” he said.
Gerwig added that it would be unrealistic to have the province order masks from multiple suppliers in smaller quantities given the pressing deadline.
“Given the expediency required, the POC has directly approached experienced, established vendors to fulfil personal protective equipment (PPE) needs for school reopenings,” LaGrange said in a statement.
“Government of Alberta contracting policies allow for this expedited process in urgent situations, as a standard request for proposal tendering process would not allow the government to fulfil our schools’ needs in the timely manner required.”
A spokesperson for Hippo Hug, a weighted blankets manufacturer based in Calgary, said the company has been producing masks since early in the pandemic and said while it could not have produced all of the masks, it could have partnered with other Alberta businesses to do the job.
“It would really be nice to have had government choose local businesses to do this,” Nanica Brown, who works in marketing and communications for Hippo Hug, told Global News on Monday. “These are our kids and we really want to do the best for them.
Brown said she also believes letting Alberta manufacturers produce all the masks would have benefited the province’s struggling economy.
“We know that for every dollar that is spent on a local business, 80 per cent of that goes back out into the community, whether it’s through wages that we pay, stuff we buy,” she said.
Brown said Hippo Hug retooled its operations to make masks early on in the pandemic after people inquired about them.
“We were able to switch on a dime and just start manufacturing masks,” she said. “And we put out a call on April 4, letting people know that we were selling them.”
Brown said the move saw the company hire 10 additional workers and increase hours for staff. Hippo Hug even got help from volunteers.
“It was really a great community story,” she said. “We were also able to provide 1,500 metres of fabric to a local mask-making group that was making free masks. And we donated 1,500 masks to the community.”
Brown said Hippo Hug makes a variety of masks, all using two layers of cotton. She estimated the company could have produced up to 50,000 masks by the deadline and that other Alberta manufacturers could have joined forces to create many more.
In a statement, LaGrange addressed some local business expressing an interest in helping to manufacture the masks.
“We understand the eagerness of some local businesses to help with the effort,” she said. “Often, these are businesses that manufactured non-PPE products prior to the pandemic and/or have more limited production capacity. We sincerely appreciate the enthusiasm of those wanting to help.
“That said, our primary objective is ensuring the large volume of reusable masks can be obtained and distributed in time for the start of the school year.”
Both Madu and LaGrange pre-emptively wrote letters to the Ethics Commissioner of Alberta, outlining their rationale for the choices.
In her letter, LaGrange says there’s been “faux controversy” around the IFR selection.
“I hope this letter assures you there is nothing untoward in the selection of vendors.”
–With files from Global News’ Phil Heidenreich
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