Government Operations Committee on June 7th, 2021

[Cindy Evans]

Mr. Chair, the life-cycle management for the personal protective equipment that we purchased remains a top priority. We have continued to function on a first-in, first-out basis, so that we're sending out the oldest supplies first.

We continue to work through our provincial governance structures—the logistics advisory committee—with our provincial counterparts in terms of discussing life-cycle management and options, as well as to work with the provinces and territories for the mechanisms to best distribute equipment.

We also are looking to other opportunities for deployment and divestment, including Canada's role in supporting the global response to the pandemic.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Can you tell us a little bit more about potentially sharing that PPE globally? What might that look like?

[Cindy Evans]

Mr. Chair, working with our counterparts at Global Affairs Canada, we have looked at a number of areas in the world that are challenged with respect to COVID response. Where there are commodities that are in surplus of what we may require in Canada, we have been looking to work on international donations.

As was announced previously, we were in a position to donate ventilators, for example, to India, based on the dire situation they have been facing.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Are there other recent examples you have of donations that have been made or donations that are planned?

[Cindy Evans]

Mr. Chair, early on in the pandemic, at a federal level and, as well, our provincial and territorial counterparts, purchasing was done in a way to obtain whatever products we could get our hands on that would provide infection prevention control for our front-line health care workers. In some cases, we have supplies that may not be the key preference of the health care system. I'll give an example: a surgical mask, which is not ASTM standard or gowns that might contain latex.

We are looking for alternative settings, for example, outreach to charitable organizations in Canada, where those surgical masks that wouldn't be the choice for use in the health care system may perhaps be valuable in a homeless shelter, for example, as well as where these can support critical and challenging situations internationally.

These are products that are acceptable. It's just that they are not meeting the preferences of our target health care system users.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

In short, it looks like we're going to meet whatever demand we have here domestically. We'll make sure that the PPE goes to good use, if not domestically then in the global fight against COVID. Is that correct?

[Cindy Evans]

Mr. Chair, yes. That would reflect the approach we're taking with respect to life-cycle management and our state of readiness.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Does the government intend to coordinate bulk orders of PPE and medical supplies on behalf of the provinces and territories after the pandemic? Why or why not?

[Cindy Evans]

One of the basic premises or principles underpinning emergency response is that municipalities, provinces and territories are prepared to deal with emergencies and have the supplies to do that. It certainly wouldn't be the role of the Public Health Agency of Canada to deliver health care services or have the supplies to deliver them.

This was a unique situation in which, based on the global challenges in purchasing, bulk procurement made sense. We'll continue to work with the provinces and territories going forward in terms of where the supply and demand modelling situates us. As well, there has been a stabilization in the market, and our provincial and territorial partners have found themselves much more effectively situated with their own supplies and stockpiles.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

That's understood.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you, Mr. Kusmierczyk and Ms. Evans.

We'll now go to Ms. Vignola for six minutes.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much.

I would like to come back to what my colleague, Mr. McCauley, discussed with you just a few moments ago.

We understand that everyone was surprised by the pandemic, despite the 15 or 20 years of warnings by scientists.

You are talking about a post–pandemic comprehensive stockpile management plan, even though we don't know when it will end. What is the status of that plan?

I hope you have started working on that plan. What exactly is the situation?

[Cindy Evans]

As I've stated, we are in active response mode right now and we'll continue to prioritize the provision of critical supplies to the provinces and territories. We will continue with incremental changes and continuous improvement in the midst of the pandemic, but we will be looking for, when we've seen things like a decrease in or removal of the emergency orders in the provinces and territories, some of the key metrics that say we are out of pandemic mode and Canada is moving more into the steady state of COVID-19. We'll then be in a better position to focus our full effort on the commitments we've made in response to the Office of the Auditor General.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

If I understand correctly, the planning has not even begun.

You are still in reactive mode. Did I understand correctly?

[Cindy Evans]

As outlined in the report of the Office of the Auditor General, a number of improvements and procedures were put in place in response to the pandemic. Building on that work and our ability to respond to the provinces and territories, we'll be taking that further to work on a longer-term strategic plan for the national emergency strategic supply. That will include key areas such as optimizing our operations and logistics and life-cycle management.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you.

PHAC awarded Metro Logistics a contract for warehousing services worth $108 million. The contract start and end dates were respectively October 5, 2020, and July 31, 2022, as warehousing services were outdated, among other things. We understand that.

What are the performance standards stipulated in the long-term contracts with Metro Logistics? Are there financial implications if those performance standards are not met?

[Cindy Evans]

I will turn to my colleague at PSPC to assist in responding to that question.

[Michael Mills]

I don't have the specific details on what the performance measures are for that contract, but we'd be happy to return and provide them. I can assure you that with all of our contracts, we ensure that our contractors respect the terms of their contracts, honour their requirements and meet the requirements of the contracts.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

We don't always know what life may bring to a company or to its leaders. We hope that everything will continue to go well. However, does the contract include financial repercussions for the company should it fail to meet the contract's terms?

[Michael Mills]

It really depends on the specific contract and whether there are financial penalties.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I am talking about Metro Logistics.

[Michael Mills]

Again, I'll have to get to the details of whether that one does contain financial penalties. To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe it has specific financial penalties if they don't meet the terms. Certainly, if a contractor was not meeting the terms, we would have termination clauses that would allow us to terminate the contract for default in certain cases.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Okay.

How many bids were received through that competitive process before the contract was awarded to Metro Logistics?

[Michael Mills]

Mr. Chair, again, I would have to get back to you on how many submissions we received in that competition.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

According to the Office of the Auditor General's report, in April 2020, some new risks were identified, including less oversight, which could lead to errors or to poorly researched procurement decisions.

The Auditor General found that no mitigation strategy had been developed to counter those risks. As a result, although the department has managed to accelerate the procurement process, it has not always been able to show that it had provided the required oversight.

Since the audit, has PSPC thought about developing a mitigation strategy to manage the increased risks associated with procurement related to COVID‑19?