Parliamentary query exposes lingering secrecy in Canada's COVID-vaccine deals
Conservative MP Dean Allison's probe into the Liberals' secretive vaccine contract NDAs exposes government stonewalling and dodged accountability with a bureaucratic haze.
With the House of Commons back in session, Order Paper Questions (OPQ) are once again probing the murky depths of government operations.
Conservative MP Dean Allison's OPQ No. 224 targets the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that cloaked Canada's billion-dollar COVID-19 vaccine contracts, binding officials to potentially perpetual silence and fuelling suspicions of hidden truths.
Drawing from an access-to-information document, Allison highlighted a "secret oath" signed by top brass, including former Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam and managers from Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Global Affairs, and National Defence.
This pledge barred disclosure of information that could "embarrass" the government.
Allison's official government query demanded details: Who originated the requirement? Which departments participated? Who signed, and in what roles? What were the NDA terms? Why were they needed? Did they conceal embarrassing facts? And how did they differ from standard ethics codes?
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health Maggie Chi responded, touting transparency before deflecting. She rejected the "secret oath" label, noting confidentiality wasn't hidden, and cited the Public Service Employment Act, Treasury Board ethics, and security protocols as sufficient safeguards.
So why did the government go above and beyond that?
Chi explained that during the pandemic, PHAC collaborated with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and others for vaccine procurement. NDAs were initially a "precautionary measure" to protect business secrets in negotiations, but (apparently) deemed redundant later and discontinued.
Involved staff handled procurement, distribution, or administration, as per industry norms, with PSPC overseeing signatures.
Yet, Chi's reply evades specifics requested by Allison — no initiators named, no signatory lists, no verbatim NDA text.
Responses remain bound by core oaths, she added vaguely.
This mirrors June 2023 reporting on vaccine deal opacity, where it was revealed that there were at least 35 signatories to NDAs, including Chief Science Advisor Dr. Mona Nemer, some of which were indefinite.
Health Canada's previous response hid behind a lack of a centralized database that prevents them from disclosing who from the agency or PHAC were privy to the secret deals — a convenient gap indeed.
Billions in taxpayer money funded these rushed-to-market vaccines, with manufacturers' liability shielded for bypassing standard testing, as Liberal MP Anthony Housefather acknowledged in committee.
Canadians face hurdles to view full contracts, while officials are muted on "embarrassing" details like hasty trials or these waivers.
Prioritizing commercial secrets over trust only serves to fuel the divide between security and cover-ups as accountability inquiries vanish into bureaucratic fog.
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