Government Operations Committee on May 22nd, 2020

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Good afternoon, colleagues. It's good to see all of you again virtually.

I will call this meeting to order. It is meeting number 13 of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

I have a couple of notes before we begin. In the second hour of today's meeting, we will have only one witness, who is a representative from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, so I would like to take 15 minutes at the end of that meeting to discuss future business and, more precisely, future witnesses.

For the purposes of this meeting, we have representatives from the minister's office. Minister Hajdu is here, as are representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

We will begin by asking the minister to give a short statement of no more than five minutes, followed by our normal round of questions. Since we're starting on time today, which is somewhat unusual, we will go to our normal rotation for the first round of six minutes, five minutes and then two and a half minutes.

For the minister and all witnesses, I would ask that when you speak you do so in one language, as opposed to alternating between French and English. Doing this will assist our technicians greatly. In other words, if you start speaking in English with your statement, if you could maintain that language for the entire duration of your statement or question, I would appreciate it greatly.

With those few words, I would like to invite Minister Hajdu to give her opening statement.

Minister, the floor is yours.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. At your request, I will keep my remarks in English.

Mr. Chair and honourable members, thank you for this opportunity to speak to the committee today about the health portfolio’s role in the government’s response to COVID-19.

The scope of COVID-19 has left no country untouched. Tragically, this pandemic has claimed thousands of lives worldwide, and Canada has not been immune. My heart goes out to all those who have lost a loved one here in Canada or elsewhere in the world.

During this unprecedented crisis, Canada has worked together to protect our health care systems and avoid the surges that have led to even greater loss of life in other countries. We must continue to work together to ensure that our health systems are fully prepared to care for Canadians as the world strives to find treatments and a vaccine. To do so effectively, we are collaborating with the provinces and territories to identify their needs and to help purchase required equipment, supplies and services.

We have taken an aggressive approach to buying, especially when it comes to personal protective equipment for front-line health care workers. This includes ordering in bulk on behalf of provinces and territories, supplementing these orders by purchasing everything immediately available that meets requirements, and galvanizing Canadian industries to increase domestic manufacturing capacity. These measures are over and above what the provinces and territories are doing to secure their own supplies.

The government is also coordinating shipments of supplies from other countries. Canada has established on-the-ground support in China for transportation, receiving, storage services and customs clearances.

Canada is receiving shipments, and the government is working to rapidly distribute personal protective equipment and medical supplies to the provinces and territories, using an approach agreed upon by federal, provincial and territorial ministers of health.

Provinces are proactively allocated 80% of shipments on a per capita basis, while 20% is held back for the national emergency strategic stockpile. This holdback is used to fulfill urgent requests for assistance from provinces and territories.

Furthermore, we know that early diagnosis is essential to slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Canada. That’s why in March I signed an interim order to allow expedited access to COVID-19-related medical devices, including diagnostic test kits. An interim order is one of the fastest mechanisms the government can use to help make health products available to address larger-scale public health emergencies. To date, we have authorized 19 tests under this interim order, tools that are necessary for our response to this pandemic.

The interim order also ensures that other COVID-19-related medical devices are available to treat, mitigate or prevent this disease. To help do this, the order allows Health Canada to review approvals granted by other countries when deciding whether to authorize a device for importation or sale. It also waives all application fees for COVID-19-related medical devices, further removing impediments for manufacturers in this time of public health need.

Mr. Chair, the health portfolio, in particular through the dedication of officials at the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is committed to doing everything it can to protect the health and well-being of all Canadians.

I would like to conclude by thanking all of you, honourable members, for your ongoing work, collaboration and support to your constituents during this difficult time. Together we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that our country’s response continues to be effective and that we are equipped into the future.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you, Minister.

We'll now start with our six-minute rounds of interventions, starting with Mrs. Block.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the minister and the many departmental officials she has with her there for joining us today.

I'm going to try to keep my questions really succinct so that I can get as many in as possible, and I would appreciate the same back in the answers that are provided, where possible.

Minister, have any substandard N95 or KN95 masks been recalled in Canada?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Yes, there have been substandard masks that have been distributed through other suppliers and have been deemed to be deficient and not meeting public health standards.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

It's my understanding that the Government of the Northwest Territories is recalling defective KN95 masks. Did these come from supplies purchased by the federal government?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

No, they did not.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Well then, they must have come from a supplier that the Government of the Northwest Territories purchased from based on a medical device establishment licence granted to a supplier by your department. What is the name of the company that held the MDEL and sold the masks to the Government of the Northwest Territories?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I don't have the precise name. I don't know if officials know the name of the distributor. We can follow up.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much for that.

Of the approximate 59 manufacturers impacted by your department's recall of KN95, so far only one MDEL-holder has initiated a recall. Do you expect any more recalls and, if you do, how many?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I'll turn to Deputy Minister Lucas, who is monitoring the situation.

[Dr. Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister, Department of Health]

Indeed, on May 9, Health Canada cancelled the authorization for the importation and sale of a KN95 respirator and, in addition, contacted a number of other MDEL-holders to change the labelling, which does represent a recall in the definition we use to indicate that they don't meet the N95 filtration standards. Relabelled, they could be used as face masks. That process has happened, and we issued, on May 11, a public advisory to that end, in addition to contacting those medical device establishment licence-holders.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Does the department track the use of MDELs?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

We have the information on the MDELs. We ensure that the information provided is accurate. In terms of their use, they're utilized at the provincial level or local level further to the guidance and conditions of use that represent their authorization.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Is there any department that would track importations as a result of the use of the MDEL?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Of the medical device establishment licences issued.... I believe they're manufactured here or imported, so we have the information, and I believe the Canada Border Services Agency has it in regard to the import of those products.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Does the Public Health Agency of Canada have a role to play in the recall of contaminated supplies?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

No. In regard to the regulatory authorization issued by Health Canada, we are the authority that issues recalls or instruction to manufacturers or to medical device establishment licence-holders to change their labelling, as was done in the case of 20 or so MDEL-holders associated with the KN95 masks that didn't meet the NIOSH standard.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Minister, personal protective equipment made by the Guangdong Golden Leaf Technology Development Co. has been delisted by the CDC. Why is this company allowed, or has been allowed, to sell PPE in Canada?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I'll have to follow up on that question.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Chair, do I have any more time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

You have a little bit of time, Mrs. Block, another minute or so.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Almost 60 companies are on the recall list for KN95 masks. How can this many companies be approved to sell masks in the first place?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

These are companies that had achieved a medical device establishment licence on the basis of meeting Canadian or equivalent standards. The further assessment that was done initially in the United States determined that they didn't meet the N95 standard, and as a consequence, information through public advisory and direct contact with the companies was issued on an expedited basis on May 10 and May 11.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, I'm hoping that we will receive responses to the questions they were not able to answer today, in a timely manner.