Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Perhaps we got the sense that Health Canada was less present at the beginning because the captain of the ship, then health minister, Tony Clement, chose to remain at the Democratic convention in the U.S. rather than come home to handle the crisis.
Since it is time to take stock of the situation and since most of the stakeholders have submitted their reports, I would like to go back to what you said earlier, and I quote:
But the technological advances we've made, the systems put in place, and the collaborations we've established since the agency was created have made huge differences in our ability to share and compare data and to plan our responses.
That seems to slightly contradict the comments of the CFIA, which mentions in its report improving communication and coordination between branches. It also seems to contradict what Ontario's chief medical officer of health said, and I quote: “The lack of effective communication among the partners created a sense of lack of coordination.”
Despite what you have told us, do you get the sense that the agencies that deal with this type of crisis are on parallel tracks? They will not necessarily do a bad job, but they are not always as connected as they need to be to coordinate their efforts effectively. You do not seem to have observed what the CFIA and Ontario's chief medical officer of health noted in their respective reports. Do you think that is because you do not share the same view or because you did not see these weaknesses?