OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal cabinet is demanding that Members of Parliament (MPs) take an oath of secrecy if they want to view the terms of the government’s multibillion dollar COVID-19 vaccine contracts.
Members of the House of Commons public accounts committee labelled the demand – which amounts to the signing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) – a dangerous precedent for transparency in the Canadian government.
Blacklock’s Reporter wrote that for two years numerous MPs have been seeking access to the terms of the deals the Liberal government made with vaccine manufacturers AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer and Sanofi.
As of yet, no details have emerged regarding the specifics of the contracts, even though $1 billion worth of COVID vaccines have expired.
Liberal MPs on the accounts committee have said that non-liberals can see the details only if they swear not to reveal any of the information.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather stated: “We want to make sure confidentiality is respected.”
Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said that it “sounds like they’re trying to protect the government and not the taxpayers.” “It makes you ask, what’s next?” he added.
Chair of the committee Conservative MP John Williamson asked the Liberals, “what are you trying to guard against?”
Housefather replied that his “concern would be that something came out,” without explaining to what exactly this concern pertained.
Housefather seemed to allude that the Liberals didn’t get the best deal or may have been overcharged, saying that the deals “were signed at a highly unusual time right at the beginning of the pandemic when vaccines were very scarce and suppliers had a great deal of leverage.”
Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné opined that “it’s to their advantage that this remain confidential.”