Thank you for the question.
I have a couple of comments. Yes, as the member mentioned, I have some friends with me, and I'll be happy to turn to them should I need some help.
The Public Health Agency, like other departments, is a client of PSPC, so when it places orders we do our best to fill them and we talk about schedules and need. What's unique about the current circumstance is that in normal times provinces, territories and others, hospitals, health authorities, etc., would do their own ordering. Because of the crisis, there is a role here for the federal government at the health tables with the provincial and territorial governments. There's been some collaboration through the health departments to put collaborative orders in place. There's ongoing dialogue between the Public Health Agency, the Department of Health in Canada and its provincial and territorial counterparts to assess orders, assess needs and then give PSPC, effectively, large orders to place. Those large orders are very important in terms of getting the attention of potential suppliers in a very competitive market, as was highlighted earlier. That's the interplay.
The ongoing needs of the provinces and territories are absolutely done through the health tables. That's an important dialogue there, and then our intersection is with the Public Health Agency and Health Canada.
The table you're referring to, which the minister referred to, is one where she has a regular check-in with her ministerial colleagues, which is a combination of.... In some cases provinces have put health ministers forward as their representatives, and in other cases it's more an equivalent to the minister of PSPC, just to have an ongoing dialogue about common issues, what we can do better, where the gaps are and to help fill that in, but there are, as the member suggested, many conversations that go on among federal and provincial counterparts. The most important ones, I would say, are at the health tables, which talk about the need, forecasts and any potential shortages.