Under the leadership of Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu, the Department of Health ordered nearly two million coronavirus test kits that didn’t work.
In total, the Liberal government spent $149,048,550 in taxpayer funds to purchase the faulty equipment.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the bulk order was made without even testing whether the kits worked or not.
The tests, which claimed to “diagnose COVID-19 in less than an hour,” were sourced from Ottawa company Spartan Bioscience Inc.
“The Government of Canada has a procurement contract with Spartan to secure supply of these devices,” a Health Canada briefing note from May stated.
“The contract is conditional on the Spartan test kit being Health Canada authorized for sale.”
Government records show that 5,500 of the 1,920,000 tests ordered had already been delivered before testing found the equipment to be faulty.
“If successful, its diagnostic platform and COVID-19 test could be used in airports and clinics,” Industry Minister Navdeep Bains said of Spartan’s technology in March 2020.
“The device could read the test results within thirty minutes. We’re working with Spartan to ensure Canadian supply of this equipment.”
As of December 14, Spartan Bioscience had reapplied for a license to fulfill its federal contract, saying that they are “confident” that the deal will succeed this time.
