Theresa Tam cost Canadians $120 million in 90 days, so why hasn't this failure been fired?

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The Public Health Agency of Canada exists to prepare the country for pandemics. It was formed in the wake of the SARS outbreak nearly 20 years ago. And its only job, only real reason for being, is to be ready to mobilize a national response to an abnormal outbreak of disease. And like any government agency, it experiences mandate drift, starts to mind business that it was never supposed to, but the Public Health Agency of Canada has that one mandate. Be  ready for a pandemic. And keep six months of essential medical supplies on hand.

But as we've learned over these last two and a half years, it wasn't ready for anything.

Let's go back to the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. And I'm not disputing or agreeing with the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, I'm just looking at this through the severity lens that the Public Health Agency of Canada looks at it.

They say the coronavirus is severe enough to lock us in our homes, fine us for being outside, close our churches, spy on all the cellphones in the entire country without cellphone users knowing, and ban us from travelling, locking us both inside and outside of our country. They think it's pretty damn serious.

So let's remember how serious they think the pandemic is as we go through this.

Do you remember at the beginning of the pandemic when the Public Health Agency of Canada had a shortage of gowns and other personal protective equipment for medical professionals in this country?

The reason for that was that the pandemic preparedness agency just simply forgot or failed to rotate the national stockpile in warehouses, including one in Saskatchewan which resulted in  the gowns and gloves expiring and then being tossed in the garbage. And this was happening as they were closing the warehouse as a cost-saving measure because the government can't even be fiscally responsible properly.

In the wake of all of that, the government was then forced to overpay for replacement PPE as costs were driven up through pandemic demand. The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation estimated the inflation of the PPE costs to have nearly tripled the cost of a single N95 mask.

But that's not all.

What Canada did have in the remaining strategic stockpile, Justin Trudeau voluntarily gave to China to deal with its coronavirus outbreak on the assurance that Canada
would get masks back from China when we needed them. And he did this all without an objection from Dr. Teresa Tam, the person in charge of pandemic supplies.

But then, when we did need those masks, again, need, according to the federal government, the cargo planes we sent to China to retrieve our supplies languished on the tarmac before coming back empty. Between empty cargo planes and tossed-out supplies, Canada had to go fishing worldwide to get access to medical PPE to deal with the pandemic and mask mandates across the country. 

Because it wasn't just doctors and nurses anymore and wearing masks in a medical setting. They wanted everybody to do it. Kids in school. Flipping burgers. Grocery shoppers. Cashiers. Everyone. Everywhere all the time. 

This takes us to how much the federal government had to spend to fix the mess.

Dr. Teresa Tam — the person in charge of all of this — and her lack of oversight created at the Public Health Agency of Canada. This is going to blow your mind. It's from Blacklock's Reporter today, a subscription that's worth every penny.  

“Air cargo flights of Chinese medical supplies cost taxpayers $120 million in the first 90 days of the pandemic, say Access To Information records. Federal agencies said they had no choice but to charter planes after failing to maintain a national stockpile of masks, gloves and medical gowns. The Department of Public Works in a June 10, 2020 staff memo detailed millions spent on cargo fees to fly emergency shipments of goods from suppliers in China. Contracts included $15 million each to Air Canada, WestJet, First Air and PAL Aerospace and $60 million to CargoJet of Hamilton, Ont. Political aides at the time complained of costly air cargo fees. “The cost of flying one cargo plane from China to Canada is between $600,000 and $800,000,” said an April 1, 2020 staff email in the Prime Minister’s Office. Bolloré Logistics was paid $30 million to arrange China deliveries and warehousing. Deloitte Inc. was paid $9.6 million to manage shipments of Covid supplies. 

Tam’s screw-up cost the Canadian taxpayer $120 million in the first 90 days of the pandemic just for the charter flights. That doesn't include the cost of the supplies at an inflated cost to replace the ones she oversaw the disposal of because her team didn't rotate the national stockpile properly. 

Imagine making a $120-million screw up, probably closer to a $300-million screw up, at your job and still keeping your job. And not just keeping your job but being lauded as a hero. What planet are we on? 

And that doesn't even take into account the economic fallout all across the country because the nation was caught flat-footed without supplies and so governments across the country overreacted to lock people down. 

Don't you think Tam's failure in maintaining the national stockpile played anything into all of that? I’d say it's the number one contributing factor outside of the government's desire to control everything you do anyway? Again, $120 million worth of FUBAR in 90 days. Your family is thrown into out-of-control debt. Your small business is forced to close, but no matter, because Theresa Tam just got a raise two months ago. A $60,000 raise up to $324,000 a year after she just cost the taxpayer a cool $120 million for her ineptitude.

I think she should be fired, and that's why I'm proud to say we started a petition over two years ago, us here at Rebel News being early adopters of good ideas and all. You can still sign it at FireTam.ca.

But it's nice to see after two years of more facts rolling in and hindsight being 20/20, Theresa Tam is even worse and more fireworthy than we could have ever imagined. And Liberals being Liberals, they've rewarded her for being a loyal foot soldier in the war on Canadian freedoms.

GUEST: Selene Galas (@Selenecxliv on Twitter).

FINALLY: Your letters!