Federal Court threw out a class action lawsuit criticizing federal handling of the COVID pandemic. The Public Health Agency maintained an inadequate medical stockpile, it reads.

“It constitutes a scattershot attack on all aspects of Canada’s early pandemic response,” wrote Associate Judge Trent Horne. “The plaintiffs are asking the Court to embark on an exercise akin to a public inquiry.”

The Court was no substitute for an inquiry, ruled the judge, who dismissed the suit as overly broad, reported Blacklock’s.

Fed judge tosses $100M negligence suit against @GovCanHealth over Covid mismanagement, says court is no substitute for proper pandemic inquiry.  https://t.co/CgSkZMH7oL @DonDavies @MPTedFalk pic.twitter.com/x5d6DQqXEk

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) February 26, 2025

Lawyers representing two defendants, and a third plaintiff who has since passed, claimed the agency “did not follow its own pandemic plan” and “failed to maintain and diminished Canada’s supply of personal protective equipment.”

The federal government was also served with a $5.4 billion lawsuit last February for ‘misleading’ suppliers on a promise to purchase equipment during the pandemic.

The Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers (CAPPEM) says its members were “enticed” to invest $88 million into the production of PPE, many of whom also “pivoted and retooled” their businesses to manufacture masks, ventilators and filtration materials.

Talks of a 10-year contract ultimately fizzled out.

According to an internal audit, Canada’s health agency confirmed it discarded millions of medical supplies the year before the COVID pandemic, forcing a rushed leasing of three warehouses to store new supplies.

MORE: https://t.co/JoZLlZzqT9 pic.twitter.com/el6aFRgiSi

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) April 13, 2023

Ottawa was woefully short on medical supplies from the onset of the pandemic, discarding 5.4 million high-grade N95 masks, 2.4 million surgical masks, and more than a million medical gloves and 3,010 surgical gowns after closing down three government warehouses in 2019.

After Canada declared the COVID pandemic on March 11, 2020, the Department of Health acknowledged its mistake. “We are facing a real crunch today,” said a March 20 staff email.

“We have received urgent requests for personal protective equipment, primarily N95s,” wrote staff. “The team is working on trying to triage, and we have modest stock coming in, but too late.”

Public health managers have yet to explain why they failed to maintain medical stockpiles.

In addition, the Department of Public Works acknowledged the federal government spent $720 million to rush order 40,456 ventilators they mostly never used, reported Blacklock's.

Only 500 were ever used, learned the Commons government operations committee. No refunds were issued for the faulty ventilators.

Blacklock’s filed several Access To Information requests to calculate unit charges for goods like ventilators after cabinet refused disclosure by invoking commercial privacy claims.

Records show the Department of Health paid Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) a premium of 49% over payments to other suppliers. Their $28,250 fee per device follows Baylis Medical ($23,730), StarFish Medical ($22,600) and Thornhill Medical ($18,993). 

Transparency denied: Liberals dodge public inquiry into COVID response

Liberal MPs rejected a request to conduct a thorough review of COVID-19 pandemic (mis)management at a House of Commons health committee yesterday.

MORE: https://t.co/zih2rBoyNx pic.twitter.com/KP6vekBlnk

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 24, 2023

The Canadian Nurses Association, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, Canadian Public Health Association and Canadian Medical Association all publicly criticized the pandemic response. 

“We were caught flat-footed,” Dr. Sandy Buchman, then-president of the Canadian Medical Association, testified at 2020 hearings of the Commons health committee. “I don’t think we were adequately prepared.”

On October 23, 2023 the Trudeau government rejected calls for a public inquiry in favour of a closed-door review by Health Minister advisers.

Health Canada completed 21 audits into the COVID response but refused to publicly disclose those records. The audits concluded a lack of “clear understanding” into compiling critical pandemic data.

“We need to have an impartial, independent, public and properly resourced inquiry to undertake this work,” said New Democrat MP Don Davies, adding a public inquiry would compel federal authorities to testify under oath.

Parliament passed watered-down legislation last year after voting down a clause that would mandate federal reviews of pandemic governance.

Bill C-293, The Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness Act, barely passed third reading in June amid tentative NDP support. The opposition party opposed “an advisory committee” assessing public health and pandemic response capabilities of all governments.

“Canadians will never get the answers they deserve if the ministers who perpetuated or promoted many of the failures, abuses and violations of Charter rights that we have seen over the past two years are the same ones tasked with reviewing their own government’s response,” Conservative MP Ted Falk earlier told the Commons. 

Continued controversy follows the abrupt scrubbing of dozens of government web pages last July 9, detailing billions in payments to COVID contractors. The Department of Public Works provided no reason for deleting the pandemic accounts. 

Some 34 web pages had detailed line-by-line payments to mainly sole-sourced suppliers for goods from vinyl gloves to ventilators. A 2021 motion mandated disclosure of financial accounts every 30 days, with payments totaling $24,405,139,945. 

Details of contracting will only be disclosed “upon request,” said a spokesperson for Public Works. The accounts were “archived” but not publicly accessible.

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