Ottawa Donates Former Liberal MP’s Surplus Ventilators to Ukraine

Plastic-covered ventilators are seen in a file photo. Mikaela MacKenzie/The Canadian Press

Ventilators bought by the Canadian government during the COVID-19 pandemic have now been donated to Ukraine.

The machines, purchased from former Liberal MP Frank Baylis’ company Baylis Medical, had been kept in storage and considered surplus.

“The Government of Canada has declared a portion of these ventilators as surplus to program requirements and is advancing divestment in accordance with the Treasury Board Directive On The Management Of Material,” said an Inquiry Of Ministry response tabled in the Commons, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“To date the stockpile has permanently transferred 206 units to provinces and territories and donated 839 units internationally to India, Nepal, Pakistan and Ukraine.”

It’s not the first time the company has donated ventilators to the war-torn country.

In July 2023, Baylis announced it successfully delivered 100 ventilators to Ukraine.

“Baylis Medical Technologies signed an agreement with Maple Hope Foundation to service, at no charge, ventilators supplied by the Government of Canada and to help facilitate their shipment to Ukraine,” a company press release said.

During the pandemic, Canada’s stockpile of ventilators increased from 500 to 27,000. Ottawa awarded multiple contracts to produce ventilators before there was a drop in their use at the end of 2020.

Contracts were awarded in the spring of that year. Doctors later determined that ventilators were not always a good option for COVID cases, particularly for older patients with chronic conditions.

According to the Canadian Press, stockpiling the equipment cost $807 million. Baylis was awarded a $237.4 million contract for the ventilators, Blacklock’s Reporter said.

Mr. Baylis sold the company in 2021 to Boston Scientific Corporation for $1.75 billion USD, according to a Baylis news release.

Mississauga-based Baylis Medical Technologies was not part of the deal and continued to operate in Canada, building medical devices for radiology and neurosurgery.

The government response said 368 Baylis ventilators were on loan to unnamed provinces and territories, in addition to 206 units that were given to Canadian hospitals.

In 2023, Canada’s health department and Baylis signed a $3.7 million contract for the medical company to provide ongoing maintenance of the ventilators. The machines were to be returned to the stockpile warehouse after maintenance.

Mr. Baylis was never investigated by the then-ethics commissioner as he left Parliament six months before the agreement was signed.

“There were no reasonable grounds at this stage that the Conflict Of Interest Act might have been breached,” Commission Mario Dion said at the time.

Tara MacIssac contributed to this report.