Ottawa slow to respond to PPE shortages flagged in February, documents show

The records show that, despite the warning in February, the government signed few contracts for PPE or other equipment, like ventilators, until mid-March. In fact, the bureaucrats charged with replacing the national stockpile didn’t receive special dispensation — a national security exemption — to quickly replenish supplies through sole-sourced contracts until March 14. The first orders for N95 masks weren’t finalized until March 18 — days after the PHAC, led by Dr. Theresa Tam, co-ordinated a national shutdown as provinces issued emergency orders amid a surge of COVID-19 cases. The persistent shortage of masks in March and April prompted the president of the Canadian Medical Association, Sandy Buchman, to warn a Senate committee in May that the country’s „sick” health-care system was at a „breaking point” because physicians didn’t have access to a consistent and adequate supply of protective equipment.

Asked if the government should have moved faster, a spokesperson for Health Minister Patty Hajdu side-stepped the question and said, in a statement, the government has „rapidly established a supply of medical supplies to help meet both the short- and long-term needs of front-line health-care workers.” The government has also helped to establish a network of domestic suppliers of PPE, the spokesperson said, which has bolstered local stockpiles. Kelly McCauley, the Conservative critic for public services, said the federal government’s slow response resulted in unnecessary hardship. „Their failure to move on procuring PPE for Canada ultimately led to dangerous shortages while the country struggled to fight the pandemic,” McCauley said in a statement.