Conservative MPs are calling for a parliamentary committee to probe the $300-million loss of taxpayer money by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on unfulfilled contracts for COVID-19 vaccines.
“I believe that Canadians deserve and demand an explanation for how [the Liberals] believe that they could possibly bury, hide, and lose $300 million in taxpayer money,” Conservative MP Stephen Ellis said during a Nov. 6 meeting of the Standing Committee on Health.
Mr. Ellis noted that Ottawa spent more than $300 million; first because it gave $173 million to Medicago Inc. for COVID-19 vaccine development in 2020 and then because it lost $150 million on an unfulfilled contract in 2022.
In a motion, he asked the committee to hear from Minister of Health Mark Holland, PHAC President Heather Jeffrey, Treasury Board President Anita Anand, officials from the health ministry, and “other witnesses deemed relevant by the committee.”
Quebec-based Medicago, which had been developing a plant-based COVID vaccine, announced it would be shutting down in 2023. Its vaccine was not accepted by the World Health Organization because the company had ties to tobacco companies.
The federal government’s $150 million loss for an unfulfilled contract with an undisclosed vendor in 2022 was revealed in the government’s 2022-2023 public accounts, tabled on Oct. 24. PHAC acknowledged it had an “unfulfilled contract by a vendor” worth $150 million, marked under the section titled “Losses of public money due to an offence, illegal act or accident.”
Mr. Holland on Nov. 3 said the failed contract was due to an advanced purchase agreement for COVID-19 vaccines. He said the information had already been provided to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP).
The health minister said at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the federal government needed to make deals with multiple vaccine manufacturers because it was impossible to know which product would work. He said having so many options was part of the reason that “Canada had among the best responses to the pandemic throughout the world.”
Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said the lost money was an “urgent issue,” adding that the committee needed to study it.
‘Total Clarity’ Needed
NDP MP Don Davies said his party agreed with the Conservatives that giving more than $150 million “away to a corporation and getting nothing in return is bad governance.”“It cannot happen and we need to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
He said while the Conservative motion was “sound” he did not think six hours of meetings was needed for it when “we already know the basics of it.”
Liberal MP Majid Jowhari said he understood the “fundamental issues” because Auditor General Karen Hogan had already reviewed all the vaccine contracts and determined there was “no issue” with them. He also said that $150 million was not lost, but invested in research and development.
Mr. Jowhari said he wanted to amend the motion to bring “total clarity to the issue of where the $150 million was spent.”
Liberal MP Brendan Hanley accused the Conservatives on the committee of delaying the study of the opioid crisis and women’s health. “Here we are now with a Conservative revisionist history, and delay and smoke and mirrors and pushing for accountability on a non-issue,” he said.
“More importantly, at the time, nobody had the ability to know in advance which contracts were going to result in vaccines ultimately being delivered in to people.”
The committee meeting ended without a vote on the matter. MPs plan to resume debate on Nov. 8.
