Quebec's health network spent $15 billion on COVID-19 pandemic

Quebec's health network spent $15 billion to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report tabled Tuesday by Health Minister Christian Dubé.

The Public Health Act requires the minister to produce a detailed report to the public within three months of lifting the state of health emergency.

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A total of $18.8 billion was spent between March 2020 and March 2022, with $3.85 billion subtracted due to the decrease in regular spending on activities not related to COVID-19.

In addition, in those two years, François Legault's government entered into more than 4,500 COVID-19 contracts.

The total value of these contracts is $6 billion, of which $3.4 billion was spent on personal protective equipment (PPE).

The remaining contracts are primarily related to the procurement of medical supplies, human resources hiring, vaccination and screening.

Under the new Act 28, some contracts will remain in effect until Dec. 31, or for up to five years if they are for storage or transportation.

"This is a staggering amount of money," said Parti Québécois (PQ) Health Critic Joël Arseneau in a statement sent to The Canadian Press. "Quebecers are entitled to know exactly how their money was spent and whether they got value for money."

Québec solidaire (QS) Health Critic Vincent Marissal agrees.

"Each contract...must be scrutinized to ensure that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has not taken advantage of the situation to cut corners," he said.

The Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) suspects that the CAQ may want to avoid debate.

"It is disappointing to see that the CAQ tabled its report only three days before the end of the session," said Liberal Health Critic Monsef Derraji. "We will take the time to analyze each of the $6 billion granted."

However, the CAQ defends itself, saying it had to move quickly due to the nature of the pandemic.

"Several contracts were signed quickly for the safety of the users and workers in the health network," said Dubé's press secretary, Marjaurie Côté-Boileau. "We had to have access to PPE extremely quickly...And we will never regret having paid to protect Quebecers and health care workers."

Value of contracts awarded:

• Personal protective equipment: $3.39 billion
• Medical supplies: $1.12 billion
• Human resources: $683 million
• Real estate, construction and building maintenance: $224 million
• Immunization and screening: $138 million
• Information technology: $137 million
• Medical equipment: $105 million
• Warehouse and transportation: $44 million
• Rentals: $18 million
• Miscellaneous: $134 million

Between March 2020 and March 2022, the state of health emergency was renewed 115 times in Quebec.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 8, 2022.