The House of Commons Health Committee (CHC) voted 6-5 to reject public disclosure of a contract to a failed Quebec vaccine manufacturer, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “They misled a committee of Parliament,” said Conservative MP Rick Perkins (South Shore-St. Margarets, NS) at a CHC hearing. Perkins said MPs had “the responsibility to call them back and call them on their misrepresentation to Parliament.” He accused cabinet of lying to the CHC. Medicago Incorporated was paid $150 million under a purchase agreement for COVID-19 vaccines that were never delivered. It received $173 million in research subsidies under Industry Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund for a total $323 million in Canadian government aid. Medicago was to build and operate a vaccine factory in Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’ riding. The factory never went into production. Cabinet had claimed the $150 million advance payment was written into Medicago's contract. However, Perkins said censored versions of the contract tabled with the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee show payments were only to be made upon delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines. Conservatives sponsored a motion asking the CHC to “order the production of unredacted copies of the vaccine supply contract.” Liberal and NDP MPs rejected public disclosure. In response, Perkins said Liberal and NDP MPs were covering up this failure. “It is voting to cover up Liberal incompetence on pissing away $323 million of taxpayer money when there is no contractual requirement to do so,” he said. “Incompetence, stupidity, government waste, what’s the reason?”Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay-Rainy River, ON) said the Medicago contract was old news. “This is two years later,” said Powlowski. “These are contracts which have already been made available to another committee, yet some Conservative in the middle of the night wakes up with this brain wave, ‘Oh my God, what happened with those contracts we haven’t seen? Let’s call back the health committee to discuss this right now.’”While the Liberals and NDP voted against disclosure, Bloc Quebecois MP Julie Vignola (Beauport-Limoilou, QC) voted in favour. Vignola said the CHC needed to find answers. “Having answers to questions about taxpayers’ money that is entrusted to a government is the least we can do,” said Vignola. “It is important to me that people in our constituencies know what we did with their money, their taxes.”Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) admitted on December 4 it knew providing financial support for a COVID-19 vaccine factory located in Duclos' riding might not work out. READ MORE: Failed $150 million COVID-19 vaccine plant ‘risky’Taxpayers incurred a loss of $150 million.“We took a risk of putting contracts with various suppliers for enough vaccines for all Canadians,” said PSPC Director General Joelle Paquette.
