OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — New records show that the mandatory COVID testing at the border implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $500 million dollars.
“Long after most countries around the world had stopped mandatory airport COVID testing, and while airlines, airport and the tourism industry were begging for Justin Trudeau to drop testing requirement – while air travelers to Canada suffered chaos at our borders, the Liberal government spent an appalling $411 million dollars for more mandatory COVID airport testing,” wrote Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Rempel Garner in a press release sent out Monday.
“This is shocking. While Canadians are struggling to afford to buy groceries and heat their homes, this waste of money is inexcusable. Canada’s tourism and airline industry – and Canadians in general – deserve an apology and an explanation,” charged Garner.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada – which provided Rempel with the “shocking” figures after she sent a request – $411 million dollars is a low-end estimate, as the “final expenditure cannot be provided at this time as invoicing for services rendered is ongoing.”
Look at a breakdown of how the funds were spent, the records show that of the $411 million dollars sourced from Canadian taxpayers, much of it was funneled to companies in the private sector.
An Ontario-based company called Dynacare/Dynacare-Gamma Laboratory received $120 million dollars for providing “testing” at border crossings in Manitoba and Quebec.
While Quebec-based company Biron Groupe Sante, Switch Health Holdings Inc., and LifeLabs LP each received $78.4 million, $22.2 million and $194.4 million respectively.
It is also worth noting that these figures represent only funds used for COVID testing, and do not include costs associated with government-funded quarantine hotels or any other travel-related COVID measure made mandatory by Trudeau’s government.
The $411 million dollar hit to the Canadian taxpayer is on top of the recently disclosed $54 million dollars the Trudeau government spent on its once-mandatory ArriveCAN quarantine-monitoring app.
After months of public backlash, the House of Commons on Wednesday passed a bipartisan motion demanding a full investigation into the costs associated with ArriveCAN.
Under Trudeau, the nation has been plunged into record deficits due to massive government spending, something many members of the official CPC opposition have cited as a one of the main reasons Canada is currently experiencing 40-year high inflation.