This story is part of The Big Spend, a CBC News investigation examining the unprecedented $240 billion the federal government handed out during the first eight months of the pandemic.
Canadian alcohol distillers who pivoted early to produce hand sanitizer to keep Canadians safe from COVID-19 are crying foul as their hopes of solving longer-term supply chain issues appear to have evaporated.
When the prime minister called on Canadian industry to retool to produce protective equipment in the early panic of the pandemic, dozens of distillers switched from making spirits to hand sanitizer.
At the time, it was scarce on store shelves.
So dozens of Canada’s distillers scrambled to produce tens of thousands of litres for free. At the height of the shortage, about a dozen distilleries in B.C. alone were supplying hospitals, government offices and emergency workers all over the province.
As the months wore on, some distilleries began to charge to cover the cost of making the sanitizer, but many continued to donate thousands of litres to people and organizations in need, being careful not to profiteer in a time of crisis.
CBC News has learned that, during that time period, the federal government spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars procuring sanitizer from outside Canada.
At True North Distilleries, spirits are a family business. Left to right, Heather, Scot, Samantha and Meghan spent six months working around the clock producing hand sanitizer after the pandemic caused a shortage in March. (Geoff Fontes/CBC News)
In total, more than $570 million worth of hand sanitizer has flowed into Canada from outside countries since March, according to Statistics Canada data.
Of that amount, Canada paid directly for at least $375 million’s worth. BYD Canada Co., a China-based car maker with a few employees and offices in Canada, was paid $252 million for sanitizer manufactured in its retooled Chinese factories.
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Public Services and Procurement Canada told CBC in an email that of the 20.6 million litres of hand sanitizer bought, 52 per cent came from Canadian suppliers.
BYD was paid for 10 million litres of bottled medical-grade sanitizer, but there are no future plans to buy from the company.
Canada was faced with an “intense level of global competition” for medical supplies and moved to buy bulk one-time orders from international suppliers during the worldwide shortage, PSPC wrote.
Tyler Dyck, president of the Craft Distillers Guild of B.C., pivoted from whiskey making to hand sanitizer in March. His family runs Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Vernon, B.C. (Curtis Allen/CBC News)
Smaller players shut out
That millions of tax dollars were paid out confounds distillers who were producing sanitizer for free. Many assumed that expedited changes to tax requirements and regulations to allow sanitizer production held promise that the government would continue to encourage at-home manufacturing. They requested compensation for supplies and in some cases consideration for longer-term contracts.
But none of that materialized for the smaller players.
The government of B.C. did buy about 7,000 litres of sanitizer, about a million dollars worth, from Parallel 49 Brewing Co. in Vancouver. But soon after, the province began shipping in sanitizer through a federal supply source, according to provincial officials, who said the priority was finding a “reliable source.”
Canada eventually signed agreements to make millions of litres of sanitizer with large Canadian companies: Fluid Energy Group in Calgary, Hawktree Solutions in Ottawa and Irving Oil in New Brunswick.
Meanwhile, distillers like Tyler Dyck spent nine months making and donating the disinfectant. He’s the president of the Craft Distillers Guild of B.C. and helps run his family distillery in Vernon and Kelowna.
“It really is like a sucker punch in the gut,” said Dyck, CEO of Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery.
B.C. distiller Tyler Dyck and others in the industry answered the government’s call to Canadian businesses to step up and help early in the pandemic and retooled their production lines from spirits to sanitizer. They were never compensated for the effort even as the government paid foreign suppliers to meet the demand distillers say they could have handled domestically. 2:26
By summer, Canada had agreements with larger companies to deliver 20 million litres of sanitizer. While that solved the immediate shortage, distillers say it ignored their bids for contracts or at least compensation.
“You are bypassing people that have done the right thing from Day 1,” said Dyck.
Dyck said he has been called naive, but felt it was his family’s duty to produce the COVID protection when nobody else could. His company spent about $200,000 donating sanitizer.
“For our family … it’s the thing that made us feel more proud than anything,” he said.
Other distillers began to charge for sanitizer after weeks turned into months, to offset supply costs for things like bottles and chemicals needed.
Scot Stewart is the head distiller at True North Distilleries. His hand sanitizer was being used in about 14 per cent of the province at the peak of pandemic production. (Geoff Fontes/CBC News)
‘Very disappointing’
In Toronto, the Spirit of York Distillery was the first to distribute sanitizer. The owner says he got numerous calls from brokers looking to resell his raw alcohol and turn a profit.
“We couldn’t get a contract with the [federal] government no matter how hard we tried. It’s actually very disappointing,” said Gerry Guitor.
While some complained that distillery-made sanitizer can smell of booze, makers say it worked and created jobs.
Scot Stewart is the head distiller at True North Distillery in Grand Forks, B.C., another ad hoc hand-sanitizer maker.
“We scrambled and we scrambled a lot. We worked hard to catch up so people weren’t all living bottle to bottle,” said Stewart.
His bid to get a contract to keep supplying — or compensation for the $103,000 he’s spent — has been ignored.
“I am frustrated. We stepped up. The federal government eventually bought from offshore, and [sanitizer] started showing up in tankers in Vancouver harbour, but we kept donating,” said Stewart.
Stewart has spent the past nine months churning out B.C.-made hand sanitizer, only to be left with the tab and no federal contract to continue making it as she had hoped. (Geoff Fontes/CBC News)
His MP, Richard Cannings of South Okanagan-West Kootenay, lobbied Ottawa for distillers in his riding.
“In normal times, of course, companies wouldn’t produce material without a contract. But we were in very different times. There was a lot of fear and unknown. [Distillers] thought they were going to do the right thing and help the country,” said Cannings, an NDP member.
CBC asked federal ministries about compensation for the distillers. A spokesperson for the Minister of Innovation Science and Industry Navdeep Bains said Ottawa is grateful to the roughly 1,000 companies that pivoted to produce COVID protections such as masks and sanitizer.
“With personal protective equipment, we started with virtually no Canadian production, no self-sufficiency and a precarious international marketplace,” the email said. “We are immensely proud of how Canadian industry has stepped up to the plate.”
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
