Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to begin by just saying thank you to my colleague for providing a thorough explanation and context to the serious discussion we're having here this evening.
I want to emphasize a point that was made earlier today, which is, again, that the health committee is already studying this issue and has been studying this issue, as I understand it, for the last five or six months. They've had, I think, eight meetings, at least that I'm aware of. I know that there's another meeting tomorrow to discuss this issue. They've had 33 witnesses to talk about the opioid crisis and the toxic death crisis, and they've had 18 briefs over eight meetings.
It's interesting to note.... You know, we've had this debate, this discussion of where this issue of contracts belongs. What I would highlight is the fact that the health committee has already studied contracts in the past. The contract with Medicago was raised. To sort of prove the point that HESA, the health committee, has the capacity, ability and expertise to deal with contracts, I want to quote from the health committee when they were discussing the Medicago vaccine procurement that took place, which was a sizable contract. I think it was over $150 million to procure vaccines.
Dr. Ellis—who was here at this committee testifying on why we need to take this motion out of HESA and saying that OGGO is the only place that you can deal with contracts and study contracts—asked the health minister, Mark Holland, “What was the plan to protect Canadian taxpayers in this contract with Medicago?” Here you have Dr. Ellis coming to the OGGO committee, saying that we have the expertise to deal with contracts, whether the contracts are valid and—as was raised earlier today—what the cost is, who's paying, who's profiting, what the protections are, and all of this stuff. It shows that the health committee has the capacity, the wherewithal and the expertise to talk about contracts and the appropriateness of contracts. They've already done it in the context of the Medicago vaccine procurement.
Again, at the same committee on a different day, Ms. Andrea Andrachuk, a director general of PSPC, came before the health committee and testified on the purchase of vaccines and contracts. She said:
Public Services and Procurement Canada, on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada, established seven advance purchase agreements with promising vaccine manufacturers, including Medicago, a Canadian supplier. The advance purchase agreement with Medicago was signed in November 2020 and included a firm commitment of 20 million doses, to be delivered before the end of December 2021, with options for up to an additional 56 million doses.
She also said:
As Medicago had received authorization from Health Canada for its [COVID] vaccine in February 2022, the contract was amended to allow the delivery of doses before the end of December 2022.