Initially the government, in March 2020, made a plea to Canadian industry to stand up a new PPE industry and made a promise to the Canadian public that they would be partnering with Canadian industry to deliver solutions for COVID. I have a quote here: “With a view to longer-term support, the Government of Canada will ensure procurement flexibility to support innovation and build domestic manufacturing capacity to supply critical health supplies to Canadians.”
That has not happened. The number of federal contracts given to the Canadian PPE industry, the members of CAPPEM, the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers, are zero. The contracts that have been given to the two multinational companies amount to about $600 million. That amounts to essentially an active measure against the Canadian PPE industry, in that $600 million in potential market is taken away and there are essentially crumbs that are left.