Absolutely.
Look at the countries that were in a very good position in terms of their intelligence services, including Taiwan, Australia and even Vietnam. They responded very quickly, not only because of their intelligence services, but also because of their assessment capabilities.
They have a strategic assessment capability. The U.S., Australia and the U.K. each have a strategic assessment capability. In Canada we don't have one. We don't have the capacity to
provide strategic advice and information to our government. We don't have a biosafety plan either. We have spent
roughly $400 billion,
and an intelligence service would cost us about $500 million a year.
It's a premium of one-tenth of one per cent of what we spend on the pandemic. I think that's a premium worth paying.