Documents show federal government spent more than $6M on Calgary quarantine hotel

A Calgary MP is demanding answers after she said the federal government spent millions of dollars housing just a handful of people in a quarantine hotel.

“I put in something called an order paper question which compels the government to respond to me,” Calgary Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel Garner said of obtaining the documents she released to the public on Tuesday. “I asked if indeed the government had still been spending money on quarantine hotel facilities, even though restrictions had been lifted, and if so, how much?”

The documents suggest the Public Health Authority of Canada spent close to $6.8 million on a quarantine hotel in Calgary.

That amount paid for the lodging and food of 15 people – which equates to a cost of more than $450,000 per person.

“It’s not just talking about the payment to the hotel. They’ve also got close to $2 million for security, another, close to $100,000 roughly for transportation and then something like close to, you know, $2.5- $3 million here for something called ‘traveller support services and cleaning services,'” Rempel added.

The quarantine facility opened in June of 2020 and continued to operate until October of last year — months after restrictions were eased.

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“I think what really punched me in the gut was they spent this money with the option of getting out of the contract,” Rempel Garner said.

“This is just something that I think will really hit home with a lot of Canadians of all political stripes – at a time where we’re really struggling to make ends meet and we’re really talking about affordability on lodging, on housing.”

On Tuesday during question period in the House of Commons, Rempel Garner demanded answers to the spending to which Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos responded by saying the health and safety of all Canadians has always been the government’s “primary responsibility.”

“Our primary responsibility has been and remains to protect the safety and health of Canadians, including tens of thousands of people who had to access the designated quarantine facilities,” Duclos said. “Because of these measures and vaccination, we have saved together tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars in economic costs.”

The government ended the agreement with the hotel on Sept. 30 of last year.

In comparison, just over $11 million was spent the previous year to house 1,356 travellers at the Westin and $8.9 million for rooms and meals for 119 people in 2020-21.

Lori Williams, a political analyst with Mount Royal University, said she doesn’t believe this spending spree will be a game-changer when voters head to the polls.

“I don’t know that this is going to be a make-or-break issue in most people’s minds,” Williams said. “It will confirm to those who feel the liberals are too free with taxpayer’s money… and it may or may not resonate with some who think the COVID expenditures were necessary.

“I think there was a lot of money that went out and a lot of it is highly questionable and certainly that’s going to fall into the category, but the bigger concern for Albertans now is affordability and healthcare,” Williams added.

Rempel Garner said she will continue to search for more hotels that were operating as a designated facility after restrictions were lifted or if any are still in operation.