Thank you, Madam Chairperson.
Thank you all for being here.
I first want to say that we do appreciate the regular briefings that we have received. We know it takes time to do them and we appreciate the fact that Dr. Butler-Jones, Ms. Woods, and also Dr. Grondin and others have been able to give us some time, but they are no substitute for a real dialogue with parliamentarians, no substitute for an exchange of ideas and an expression of concerns that we are hearing.
I know, Madam Minister, you have suggested that we are playing politics by holding this meeting and that there really is no need for this midsummer meeting. You and others have suggested that. But there are summer camps out there looking at closing their doors. There are schools planning for the fall. There are businesses worrying about what to do. There are pregnant women calling us. So my first question is, if you don't think midsummer is an appropriate time to deal with this, what is a good time?
Obviously I am not here to criticize everything you are doing, but we are all here to say we don't sense that there is a complete coordinated national plan that has evolved over the summer that you are prepared to share with us today. That's what we're here for.
Let me get some specific questions in.
Who is in charge of the incident command and control centre? Who is in charge? Who is on the committee? Which departments are involved? How are you coordinating matters within your own government? Why, if in fact we are so far advanced in terms of our planning, do we not have a list of priorities in terms of who shall get the vaccine whenever it is ready, unlike in the United States, where the CDC developed that list two weeks ago? People are asking us about this. If you have done so much work this summer, how many new staff have been hired to help meet the needs and get prepared for the fall? What new budgetary provisions are you prepared to consider, given the fact that if this hits and when it hits, the impact on all of the provincial and territorial health systems will be significant, not to mention the whole fabric of society--