Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Through you to Dr. Tam, in 2006 you co-authored a report on pandemic preparedness in Canada called “The Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector”. The document called for the Canadian government to make plans to ensure “a consistent 16-week supply”—which would be “two pandemic waves” of eight weeks—of personal protective equipment, such as the N95 respirator masks, gowns, gloves and face shields, because there would be “shortages” of materials and supplies during the pandemic period.
However, according to PHAC whistleblowers, on February 12, 2020, the NESS included only 94,000 surgical masks, 100,000 N95 respirator masks, 400,000 face shields, half a million gowns and two million gloves. This would be the equivalent of one week of use in Ontario in April.
As the public health officer of Canada, can you tell us why the Public Health Agency of Canada failed to ensure that Canada had a consistent 16-week supply of personal protective equipment prior to the outbreak of COVID-19?