Health Committee on Sept. 28th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Good afternoon, everyone. I want to welcome everyone to committee today. We're very excited that you can appear.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, August 12, 2009, a study of H1N1 preparedness and response, we welcome witnesses from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and from the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Today we have seven-minute presentations. Each person can have 10 minutes to present. Following that, we will go into seven-minute rounds of questions and answers.

Committee, we have before us Daniel Lavoie, the associate assistant deputy minister at the emergency management and national security branch.

Welcome, sir.

We also have before us Serge Beaudoin, director general of the preparedness and recovery directorate.

Welcome.

In addition, from the Treasury Board Secretariat we have with us Daphne Meredith, chief human resources officer, and Hélène Laurendeau, assistant deputy minister of compensation and labour relations.

We'll start with Monsieur Lavoie.

Could you please give us your presentation, sir? Following that, we will go on to Daphne.

[Daniel Lavoie, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Emergency Management and National Security Branch, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

If you don't mind, we've agreed that Daphne should start because of her role as chief human resources officer.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

That would be very good. Thank you.

We will certainly start with Ms. Meredith.

[Daphne Meredith, Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board Secretariat]

Madam Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak to your committee.

My name is Daphne Meredith. I am the Chief Human Resources Officer, and my organization supports Treasury Board in its role as the largest employer in the federal public service. I am here with Daniel Lavoie, Assistant Deputy Minister from Public Safety Canada, and Hélène Laurendeau, Assistant Deputy Minister of Labour Relations and Compensation from the Office of the Human Resources Officer.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada appeared here last month, I believe, to discuss their role in leading the pandemic response for all Canadians. You heard about the work they are doing to capitalize on their strong networks with provincial and territorial governments, as well as with other countries and bodies like the World Health Organization, to ensure a united response to the outbreak. Today we are here to talk to you about actions we are taking to ensure the federal public service is prepared for the H1N1 situation.

Let me say that ensuring the health, safety and well-being of federal public service employees across the country is one of our primary responsibilities as the employer. My office has three main roles. We provide guidance on human resources management; we liaise with our unions; and we coordinate internal communications within the federal public sector. This boils down to one main task: to assist deputy ministers in fulfilling their responsibilities to employees with respect to the pandemic.

Every deputy minister in the federal public sector is accountable for human resources management, for providing a healthy and safe workplace, and for informing their employees of issues affecting them. As you know, the federal public sector is a sizeable organization of about 500,000 employees who work in many different fields for dozens of organizations with varying mandates in every province and territory and around the world.

The complexity of the federal public sector demands a flexible approach. Deputy ministers need the latitude to manage their organizations in a way that meets the needs and circumstances of their workforce, workplace, and mandate. At the same time, we need to ensure coherence across the government. A one-size-fits-all approach will not work in this environment, which includes evolving scientific medical advice. It would reduce responsiveness.

We are therefore following a principles-based approach to preparedness, as I believe that prevention and readiness go hand in hand. This approach includes four key points: health and safety of employees, a focus on prevention through rigorous hygiene practices, and encouraging employees to stay home when they are sick.

Decision-making is science based. That means aligning our support with the public and occupational health advice provided to all Canadians by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada.

Respecting the terms and conditions of employment, and engaging our bargaining agents, which includes maintaining an ongoing and open dialogue on issues related to H1N1.

Before I close, I would like to highlight specific actions my office has taken over the past weeks and months to support deputy ministers.

We have been providing guidance on human resources management issues that may arise as a result of H1N1 to departments and agencies for which Treasury Board is the employer. We have shared this guidance broadly with separate employees and crown corporations to encourage a consistent approach across the federal family.

We have supported deputy ministers in communicating with their employees by disseminating health advice issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada through our many communication channels as well as through the Treasury Board website. These efforts are overseen by the governance structure we have in place to prepare for the H1N1 pandemic. I have been meeting regularly with deputy ministers of large and small organizations to ensure we are on track and to identify actions required to address issues as they arise.

We have learned valuable lessons from previous experiences, and I think we are doing the right things to react appropriately as the situation evolves, based on the best scientific advice available.

Madam Chair, I hope this has given you and your committee a good overview of what we are doing to prepare the federal public service.

I now turn to my colleague from Public Safety Canada, Daniel Lavoie, who will talk to you about business continuity planning.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you very much for your insightful comments, Ms. Meredith.

We'll now go to Mr. Lavoie.

[Daniel Lavoie]

Good afternoon. My name is Daniel Lavoie. I have already been introduced a few times. I am with the Emergency Management and National Security Branch of Public Safety Canada. I am accompanied by Serge Beaudoin, Director General of Preparedness and Recovery, which is part of my branch.

I would like to thank the committee for inviting us to appear today as it reviews issues regarding the Government of Canada's preparedness for H1N1 pandemic influenza. Public Safety Canada has been actively supporting the health portfolio in the management of the Government of Canada's response.

Public Safety has been doing this by working with departments and agencies in the preparation of their business continuity plans, their pandemic plans, and the identification of their critical services. I'm sure we'll get to talk a lot about those today. We are also working with the provinces and territories to ensure that we are ready with a coordinated response.

Under the Emergency Management Act, all federal institutions are required to have a business continuity plan that includes programs or measures to provide for the continuity of their operations in the event of an emergency.

Departments and agencies are also required to have a pandemic strategy. In support of this approach, in 2006, departments and agencies were asked to develop a pandemic strategy as part of their business continuity plans. Deputy ministers have responded by taking steps to be ready.

Public Safety has been assisting departments in completing their business continuity plans. Public Safety has also been evaluating these business continuity plans in partnership with the Treasury Board Secretariat. We are encouraged by the results, which clearly demonstrate that deputy heads are aware of their responsibilities to prepare plans.

In this context, Public Safety Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat are also reviewing the critical services that are identified in those business continuity plans.

While the health specialists ascertain that the virus is relatively mild, it is important that departments and agencies be ready to provide these critical services, regardless of the reasons for the disruption to their regular operations.

Critical services are those that have a significant impact on the lives of Canadians and Canadian society, as a whole. Examples of critical services offered by the Government of Canada are—and these are just some examples—the production and dissemination of weather warnings by Environment Canada, the daily operations of the Bank of Canada in terms of payments and securities clearing and settlement functions, and the monitoring of adverse reactions to products such as drugs by Health Canada.

As I said, those are just a few examples of critical services that need to be maintained at all times.

Planning for emergencies is part of the regular business of departments and agencies. To be effective, plans need to adapt to emerging risks. In 2006, the Government of Canada introduced a number of measures to enhance pandemic preparedness.

Over the summer that ended last week, the department took several additional steps to prepare for a potential second wave of the virus. For example, we are currently assessing the pandemic readiness component of the business continuity plans of departments and agencies. We are working with federal organizations to identify their critical services and assess the readiness component of the business continuity plans. Indications are that there is a high degree of readiness among federal institutions to provide continuity of operations, including critical services.

Of course, it is not enough to have plans. These plans need to be tested. We have been working with federal departments to exercise the plans. You may have heard about Export Development Canada's exercise last week to test its pandemic plan; it was a headline in the national media. EDC took the exercise quite seriously, and some employees worked remotely from home while others showed up at the office. EDC wanted to make sure it could continue to provide its services to Canadian firms during a pandemic. The exercise demonstrated that it is positioned to do so.

Other departments and agencies are also testing their plans, with the same results, and where they identify deficiencies, they adjust their plans. That's why we encourage them to conduct those exercises.

These examples underscore the level of attention paid to pandemic preparedness in the federal government and the high degree of commitment to provide ongoing operations and deliver critical services to Canadians.

Thank you. I would be pleased to take questions at this time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you.

We'll now go into our first round, which is seven minutes of questions and answers, and we'll begin with Dr. Duncan.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks to all of you for being here today.

I'm struggling with this, because I know you have been working on it. As you point out, there are 80 departments and 500,000 people involved. Is there an organizational structure for looking at pandemic planning business continuity? Who's at the very top? Who is responsible? As well, how do you ensure consistency among departments?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Who would like to take that?

[Daniel Lavoie]

I'll take it.

There are two components to pandemic planning. There's the health component--

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

And the business continuity side. I understand that.

[Daniel Lavoie]

So Public Health and Health Canada take care of the health component. That challenge was identified during the SARS period. Health Canada was solicited from all sides, and they had a hard time focusing on the health angle with the resources they had. Since then, the Public Health Agency of Canada was created to lead those kinds of incidents, and Public Safety was created for the rest.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I'm going to interrupt. You'll have to forgive me.

I understand that we have the health side and the public safety side. I want to know who is at the top and how this branches off. What is the actual organizational structure? Who is reporting to whom, and who is ultimately responsible?

[Daniel Lavoie]

Deputy ministers are responsible for their own business continuity plans. Public Safety Canada and the Minister of Public Safety have the responsibility for providing guidance and helping departments prepare their own business plans. Each minister has the responsibility of identifying the risk to their operations, developing plans to meet those risks, and exercising those plans. We have the responsibility of assessing them. This is done in the context of what we call the federal emergency response plan.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I understand the plan.

The deputy ministers for each department are responsible for the plans. By whom do they then have to be reviewed?

[Daniel Lavoie]

Public Safety.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Who ultimately says they are ready or that there is more work to be done?

[Daniel Lavoie]

The departments have the tools to assess their plans. They develop their plans, exercise them, and test them. They make whatever adjustments are needed. In my department we review them and see if they meet the standards that are in place.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

There are 80 departments. How many have pandemic plans?

[Daniel Lavoie]

Most of them do.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Is there an actual number?

[Daniel Lavoie]

I don't have a number. There are more than 80 departments. We know that 79 departments have them, and about 150 organizations would be affected.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you.

Since the spring when H1N1 emerged, how many have updated their plans?

[Daniel Lavoie]

I would say that most of them have. In the summer they were written to and told that they needed to review their business continuity plans and update their pandemic annexes.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Is it possible for us to get numbers for that? How many have plans? How many rolled out their plans in the spring, if any?