Converting the Westin Calgary Airport Hotel into a COVID-19 quarantine facility for travelers cost the federal government $26.8 million from 2020 to 2022, according to documents.
This includes $6.8 million spent to house and feed 15 people in 2022.
The figures were released in response to a question on the mandate, a mechanism for lawmakers to seek information, submitted by Calgary Nose Hill Representative Michelle Lempel Garner.
The document, posted online by Conservative MPs on Monday, broke down year-on-year spending.
The federal government said it paid hotels $8.9 million for lodging and meals in the 2020-21 fiscal year, $11.1 million the following year, and $6.8 million the following year.
A total of 1,490 travelers used the hotel. 119 in 2020, 1,356 in 2021 and 15 in 2022.
This translates to an overall $18,000 per traveler, broken down to about $453,000 per person in 2022.
Cleaning services, transportation, and other support added a total of $4.4 million.
‘Complete waste’ says lawmaker on numbers
Ottawa signed a deal with Westin at the end of October 2022, according to Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). All remaining of his COVID-related travel restrictions ended on his 1st of the month.
The government has already lifted pre-arrival testing requirements for fully vaccinated travelers in April and vaccination requirements for outgoing and domestic travelers in June 2022.
“There is no justification for this expense. It is a total waste and a total mismanagement,” says Rempel-Garner in the video. She was unavailable for an interview.
“We are translating this money into what it means to the average person. Again, 4,100 Calgarians can afford to pay a month’s rent based on what they have wasted here. I could have.”
Between March 2020 and September 2022, the government has agreed on 38 quarantine hotel sites in 14 cities across the country. According to a PHAC statement, Ottawa spent a total of $388.7 million during these operations. This will be $158.5 million for fiscal 2020-21, $153 million for fiscal 2021-22 and $77.2 million for fiscal 2022-23.
“The Canadian government has coordinated its response to COVID-19 based on the latest science and evidence and has always worked to protect Canadians,” spokeswoman Tammy Jabaugh said in an email. .
“These facilities were there as an important means of stopping the spread and saving lives.”
One political scientist said the information could spark further backlash against the federal government among Albertans who oppose the federal government’s approach to the pandemic.
Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said: “This is not just government gibberish.
“This is consistent with the narrative that public health restrictions were necessary, but have caused unwarranted damage and are now costing millions of dollars.”
According to Health Canada, there have been more than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 50,380 people have died from the virus.
