Feds Kept Most COVID-19 Contracts Secret Under National Security Exemption
OTTAWA — The federal government cited a national security exemption (NSE) to withhold details of a “vast majority” of its COVID-19 related contracts struck at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The exemption expedited the weeks-long procurement process — and keeps details of domestic and international contracts, including costs and supplier information, secret.
A memo approved in late May, obtained by HuffPost Canada through an access to information request, recommended the deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada authorize “the 2019-2020 Q4 proactive disclosure of contracts not include those that are COVID-related.”
James Fitz-Morris, the procurement minister’s director of communications, said “nearly all” of the contracts have since been posted publicly.
“The few exceptions are limited to three specific commodities that, as the website says: ‘Given the intense competition for PPE and other supplies, and in the interests of Canadians, [Public Services and Procurement Canada] must protect the names of suppliers for certain commodities that are difficult to procure, including N95 respirators, gloves and swabs.’”
Members of the opposition have raised concerns about the federal government invoking NSEs for COVID-19-related contracts, calling for increased transparency.
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During an Oct. 7 debate in the House of Commons, Conservative national defence critic James Bezan said national security isn’t at risk with regard to the purchase of ventilators or N95 masks.
“It is just another example of how the government likes to cloak itself in the curtain of secrecy and never, ever talk about details of these contracts,” Bezan said.
“This is another sole-source situation and we could be looking at another WE scandal. The government needs to come clean on this,” he said, referencing an April federal contract awarded to a Baylis...
