Canada’s “Wild West” efforts to buy medical supplies for provincial governments in the midst of a global pandemic will be assessed by the federal auditor general today.
The federal government spent more than $7 billion last year to buy everything from personal protective equipment, to hand sanitizer and rapid tests.
In the early days of COVID-19 in Canada last spring, global demand for PPE and medical equipment was so high Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland likened it to the “Wild West” of procurement.
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Auditor General Karen Horgan is auditing the purchases of four specific items — N95 masks, medical gowns, testing swabs and ventilators, which federal documents suggest account for about one-quarter of the dollars spent.
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Public Services and Procurement Canada says as of April 26, it had secured delivery of 131 million surgical gowns, 121 million N95 respirators, and 27,388 ventilators.
A second audit report expected today looks at the federal government’s pandemic support to Indigenous communities including PPE, nurses and paramedics.
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