Liberal Frank Baylis' company received a nearly $4 million contract for maintenance of ventilators Canada never used
The $3.7 million "preventive maintenance" contract was awarded in 2023 to Baylis Medical Company for the 10,000 ventilators it was sole-sourced to build in 2020 as part of an initial $237 million deal.
The preventive maintenance contract on the unused vents was uncovered in a ministerial inquiry posed by Edmonton Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif.
According to the Department of Public Works, the federal government spent $720 million on rush orders for 40,456 ventilators it mostly never used. During the COVID pandemic, the feds deployed just 500 of the ventilators nationwide.
A few of those ventilators, despite concerns over the viability, were sent to Ukraine as part of Canadian war relief efforts.
Frank Baylis, head of Baylis Medical Company, was elected to represent the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard for the Liberals in the 2015 federal election. However, Baylis did not run for reelection in 2019.
The Baylis Medical Company Inc., owned by former Quebec Liberal MP Frank Baylis, was awarded a $423,000 contract just two months after he left his position as MP. According to Blacklock's, who first reported the double dipping:
"Baylis Medical on September 14, 2017 applied for industry department research funding. Baylis was then a Liberal member of the industry committee. The company’s $422,946 contract was approved [on December 19, 2019."
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.