'Legitimately flabbergasting': MP raises concerns over government's quarantine hotel spending
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner is raising concerns over the federal government’s spending on so-called COVID-19 quarantine hotels, calling the total spent on a Calgary-area hotel in 2022 “legitimately flabbergasting.”
According to the response of an order paper question put forth by Rempel Garner in November, in the fiscal year 2022, the federal government spent $6,790,717.46 to use the Westin Calgary Airport hotel as a quarantine facility. In the 2022 calendar year, the hotel housed 15 people for the duration of their quarantines, coming out to about $452,714.50 per person.
“Government waste is always a problem,” Rempel Garner wrote in a post on Substack. “But waste of this magnitude when deficit spending needs to be reined in due to inflationary pressures shows that Trudeau doesn't have the capacity or willingness to get things under control.”
The Westin Calgary Airport hotel was designated a quarantine facility from June 22, 2020, to Oct. 30, 2022, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Over the course of the two and a half years, the hotel housed 1,490 people to the tune of nearly $27 million, about $18,000 per person.
In its response to Rempel Garner, PHAC writes that “given this response required a manual collection of information, it is possible there is a small degree of human error when determining the amount the federal government paid to the Westin Calgary Airport hotel.”
The federal government’s hotel quarantine requirements largely ended in August 2021.
“The fact that these contracts were continued even after quarantine restrictions were eased really shows the lack of capacity the government has to manage spending,” Rempel Garner told CTV National News Parliamentary Bureau Reporter Annie Bergeron-Oliver. “Since we’re in an inflationary crisis that’s driven by this type of spending, it raises a lot of questions about what else is being mismanaged.”
Rempel Garner called it an issue “somebody should be fired over,” and questioned how much the government spent across all of its official designated quarantine facilities.
In an email to CTVNews.ca Wednesday, PHAC spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau said the federal government spent $388.7 million in total on 38 designated quarantine facilities across 14 cities from April 2020 to December 2022. The total cost included lodging, meals, security, traveller support and transportation.
“The Government of Canada has always worked to protect Canadians, adapting our COVID-19 response based on the latest science and evidence. Designated quarantine facilities met public health guidelines for the purposes of accommodating travellers to quarantine as required by emergency orders under the Quarantine Act,” Jarbeau also wrote.
Rempel Garner asked Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos about the spending in question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
“We were all very mindful of the terrible pain and the large number of deaths, and an even larger number of hospitalizations that we have seen in Canada over COVID-19,” Duclos said. “That's why our primary responsibility has been, and remains, to protect the safety and the health of Canadians, including the tens of thousands of people who had to access the designated quarantine facilities.”
He added: “Because of these measures and vaccinations, we have saved, Mr. Speaker, tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars in economic costs.”
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Tuesday there’s an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned when it comes to the government’s response to COVID-19, but that it “did what we felt was necessary to protect the health and safety of Canadians.”
Larry Kennedy spent four days in a quarantine hotel in Toronto with his wife and two young children in December 2021.
He said it was a challenge to get basic amenities, such as milk for coffee, or laundry service, and their room had no hot water.
“It wasn’t as smooth as we hoped,” Kennedy said, adding he and his family had only their carry-on luggage, with limited clothing, and no supplies for their children.
“The concept of going into a quarantine hotel wasn’t a stress,” he said. “Hotels are designed to be comfortable; it just wasn’t comfortable during those four days.”
Kennedy said he would have preferred the cash value of what the government spent per person at the Westin Calgary Airport hotel for his own family’s hotel stay in Toronto so he could have made his own arrangements.
“That’s a lot of money for cold food and no hot water,” he said.
In December 2021, Auditor General Karen Hogan reported she’d identified “significant gaps” in PHAC’s administration of emergency travel measures that came into effect in early 2021. Her report covered quarantine orders from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
According to Hogan’s report, for 75 per cent of travellers who flew into Canada, PHAC didn’t know whether those who were required to quarantine in hotels actually did so. She also reported PHAC did not reliably track whether air travellers who had been notified of positive COVID-19 tests had stayed at a government-authorized hotel as required.
With files from CTV National News Parliamentary Bureau Reporter Annie Bergeron-Oliver and CTVNews.ca’s Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
Correction
A previous headline indicated Michelle Rempel Garner is a minister. She is an MP.
IN DEPTH
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84
Former Canadian prime minister and Conservative stalwart Brian Mulroney has died at age 84. Over his impressive career, the passionate and ambitious politician, businessman, husband, father, and grandfather left an unmistakable mark on the country.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
The first public hearings on foreign interference in Canada have begun. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions got underway this week. Heading into this process, here's what you need to know.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
opinion Don Martin: The Trudeau lessons from Brian Mulroney's legacy start with walking away
Justin Trudeau should pay very close attention to the legacy treatment afforded former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who died on Thursday at age 84, writes columnist Don Martin.
opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report
It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.
opinion Don Martin: Despite his horrible year, Trudeau's determined to roll the dice again
In his column for CTVNews.ca, political commentator Don Martin says you can't help but admire Justin Trudeau's defiance and audacity of hope despite his 'horrible' 2023, as it appears Trudeau is insisting on leading the Liberals into the next federal election.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.