Trudeau government sold pandemic ventilators for scrap to 'understand recycling'

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   May 30, 2024   |   Be the first to comment

The federal government sold off ventilators bought during the COVID-19 pandemic for scrap in an effort to "further understand" the recycling process. The respiratory devices purchased from Starfish Medical as part of a $169.5 million sole-sourced contract cost $22,600 each.

As first reported by Blacklock's Reporter, documents made available through an access to information filing indicate the ventilators were recycled while the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing and as the federal government was imposing harsh restrictions on the public under the guise of protecting a strained health-care system.

Ventilators were sold for as little as $6 each to a high of $21.39 a piece by August 24, 2022. The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID scare on May 5, 2023.

"There was one negotiated sale of four ventilator samples with conditions to recycling organizations for the purposes of industry engagement in efforts to further understand constraints and considerations of recycling," wrote the Department of Public Works.

The Starfish Medical contract was one of a number of rushed pandemic-era medical device contracts.

Former Liberal MP Frank Baylis was awarded a handful of those contracts, including a 2023 $3.7 million "preventive maintenance" contract to Baylis Medical Company. The company was awarded a sole-sourced contract as part of a 2020 $237 million deal.

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.

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