News
Canada’s once booming PPE industry is now ‘running on fumes.’ Why?
|
Most Canadian businesses that answered federal and provincial calls during the pandemic to build up a domestic sector for personal protective equipment have collapsed.
The association that represents Canadian PPE companies says 90 per cent of those businesses have been forced to close or pivot to other industries because the federal government and Ontario have given contracts to a massive American company and a Quebec operation.
“We’ve got an industry that is just running on fumes,” Barry Hunt, the president of the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers, said in an interview.
“Most of them are out of business and the ones that aren’t out of business are going out of business quickly.”
A major issue, Hunt said, is large PPE orders the federal and Ontario governments placed with American company 3M, which has a facility in Brockville, Ont., and Quebec-based Medicom. Hospitals – who buy as larger groups – have also shut out domestic PPE suppliers, he said.
“There was a promise to procure at the end and that has never happened,” said Hunt, whose association has 15 companies remaining as members.
The scramble for PPE began in the spring of 2020, when governments around the world rushed to procure masks, gowns, gloves and other protective gear as COVID-19 spread. The virus hit Canada with full force in March 2020.
In April 2020, George Irwin answered government pleas to help. He paused operations at his family-owned toy company, Irwin Toy, to import masks to Ontario.
As many countries struggled to procure masks, Irwin’s connections in China, along with Air Canada’s help, allowed him to secure 2.5 million masks.
That success prompted both the Ontario and federal governments to ask Irwin to consider setting up a plant in Canada, he said. He crunched the numbers and believed he could make a better mask than the ones from China for about the same price.
He received about $2 million in grant money from Ontario and put in about $6 million to build a plant to make masks in Collingwood, Ont.
With his background in toys – a constantly evolving, innovative industry – Irwin worked with others and created an antimicrobial four-layer mask. He also created a reusable and recyclable respirator mask.
Irwin said he believed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford when they said they wanted to create a domestic PPE sector.
But neither government has purchased a single mask from him, he said.
Irwin’s company went into receivership last summer. He could lose everything, including his home.
“I’m pissed off,” Irwin said. “We did nothing wrong, all we did was make a better product that’s been ignored.”
Others have similar stories.
Paul Sweeny runs Swenco in Waterloo, Ont., a business started by his father 60 years ago.
They make components for safety shoes and, in 2019, got into the N95 mask business after signing a distribution deal with a company in Singapore.
When COVID-19 hit, Sweeny sold a shipping container of N95s in three days.
“We decided right then and there, let’s get into the mask business,” he said.
Ontario gave him a $2 million grant, he said, noting the total investment in the business sits at around $6 million.
Sweeny now has 11 machines in his plant, a massive clean room, automated packaging and robots. The plant has the capacity to make upwards of 25 million masks a month and employ 60 people. But that isn’t happening right now.
“The plant is idle,” Sweeny said, adding he wants no more platitudes from governments.
“Just give me an order so we can get the machines operational.”
Hunt, of the PPE manufacturers association, said governments owe companies who answered the emergency pandemic call. Ottawa and Ontario may have provided funding and helped with research and development, but they haven’t come through with orders, he said.
“If the governments are never going to buy Canadian PPE, and you’ve asked all these companies to invest and develop all this stuff, then give them their money back,” Hunt said.
“Let them get out and transition to start something else.”
What really upsets many companies, Hunt said, is the announcement by Trudeau and Ford in August 2020 that they were investing $47 million in 3M to produce N95 masks for the governments over the next five years.
Hunt runs a company that makes reusable and biodegradable respirators – made from corn – with no hard plastic or metal, and believed after conversations with the federal and provincial governments that he, and other Canadian companies, would get business from them.
“We were totally blindsided by the 3M deal,” Hunt said.
The province’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery did not answer questions about the deals with 3M and Quebec’s Medicom, or if it planned to help the struggling PPE companies.
Spokesman Colin Blachar said it had created a stockpile of PPE from Ontario manufacturers and that “93 per cent of the forecasted PPE for the next 18 months will be purchased from Ontario or Canadian-based manufacturers.”
Public Services and Procurement Canada said the federal government took “an aggressive procurement approach” at the start of the pandemic to meet immediate and long-term medical supply requirements. As the pandemic has evolved, the government’s requirements for PPE have too, it said.
“We are grateful for all Canadian companies that answered the Government of Canada’s call to action to support the pandemic response,” spokeswoman Stefanie Hamel wrote.
“These efforts helped to secure domestic production of critical PPE and medical supplies that were urgently needed by front-line healthcare workers and helped to meet the most urgent and immediate demands for personal protective equipment.”
News
Body believed to be missing B.C. kayaker found in U.S., RCMP say – CBC.ca
The RCMP say a body that was recovered by authorities in Washington state is believed to be one of two kayakers reported missing off Vancouver Island on Saturday.
Const. Alex Bérubé said the identity of the body found on San Juan Island, just south of the border, is still to be confirmed by the coroner.
A search has been underway in the waters off Sidney, B.C., about 25 kilometres north of Victoria, since the two kayakers were reported missing.
RCMP previously said Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and Nicolas West, 26, went missing while kayaking from D’Arcy Island to View Beach on Saturday afternoon. They were in a teal blue, fibreglass, two-person kayak.
Police said members of the Central Saanich Police Department and Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization search and rescue were involved in the search, and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre and Canadian Coast Guard were also assisting.
News
Some Canadians will be digging out of 25+ cm of snow by Friday – The Weather Network
Digital WritersThe Weather Network
Prepare for multiple rounds of April snowfall this week, as Labrador braces for wintry conditions. This onslaught of snow is expected to blanket the region, potentially leading to hazardous travel conditions and disruptions throughout the week
As we march even deeper into the heart of the spring season, many parts of Canada are finding it tough to find any consistent signs of warming weather. Add to the mix periods of snow and wintry precipitation, and it’s safe to say the winter season is certainly not going out without a strong fight.
This week, parts of the East Coast will bear the brunt of the winter weather, with multiple rounds of April snowfall stacking up in Labrador. The chances for snow flurries will stick around all week long, bringing as much as 25 cm for some.
MUST SEE: Extreme pattern over Arctic produces 50+ degree temperature spread
Although 25+ cm of snow in April may seem extreme, for this part of the country, it’s definitely nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, the month as a whole brings about 40-50 cm of snow to Labrador on average.
Some communities, including Nain, even have snowfall chances stretch all the way into June!
“This week will be a little bit different however, as some regions could reach about half of Labrador’s monthly averages alone,” says Rachel Modestino, a meteorologist at The Weather Network. “The first round on Tuesday will pack quite the punch, with heavy snow and gusty winds stretching from Labrador city to the coast.”
Winds will be gusting between 70-90 km/h at times, and travel conditions will likely deteriorate quickly due to potential whiteouts and reduced visibility.
News
Fire at building under construction in north-end Halifax quickly extinguished – CBC.ca
Witnesses described hearing a loud blast and seeing large plumes of black smoke on Tuesday morning as a building under construction in Halifax’s north end caught fire.
A message on Halifax’s alert system said the fire was at a building in the area of Robie and St Albans streets. About an hour later, the municipality said the fire was out.
The alert warned people who live on the peninsula to close their windows due to smoke from the fire possibly being toxic.
“Residents and businesses near the fire should still keep windows closed and air exchangers turned off until air quality conditions improve in the coming hours as a precaution,” the municipality said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Halifax Regional Police were asking people to avoid the area during what is normally a time of heavy morning traffic.
James Shaw lives nearby. He said he heard a blast around 8:20 a.m. local time.
“It shook the whole house,” Shaw said in an interview at the scene. “So I came outside … and saw this incredible building here on fire. Big black smoke. Lots of sparks and stuff going.”
Mike Clark was working on the building adjacent to the one that caught fire. He said he was on the 30th floor when the roof of the other building caught fire and propane tanks blew up.
He said construction crews were then evacuated from the building.
“The elevator was shut down and everyone went down the stairs and out the door,” he said. “Everybody on each floor has a horn to check if anybody was left in the building. Sounded the horn and walked down. It was very organized.”
-
Business23 hours ago
Honda to build electric vehicles and battery plant in Ontario, sources say – Global News
-
Science24 hours ago
Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life? – Universe Today
-
Health20 hours ago
See how chicken farmers are trying to stop the spread of bird flu – Fox 46 Charlotte
-
Health23 hours ago
Simcoe-Muskoka health unit urges residents to get immunized
-
Investment22 hours ago
Own a cottage or investment property? Here's how to navigate the new capital gains tax changes – The Globe and Mail
-
Science18 hours ago
Osoyoos commuters invited to celebrate Earth Day with the Leg Day challenge – Oliver/Osoyoos News – Castanet.net
-
News19 hours ago
Freeland defends budget measures, as premiers push back on federal involvement – CBC News
-
News22 hours ago
‘A real letdown’: Disabled B.C. man reacts to federal disability benefit – Global News