Health Committee on April 14th, 2020

[Prof. Amir Attaran]

I would like to answer, because my name was used and a comment was made.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Dr. Attaran, it's Ms. Sidhu's time. It's up to her to use it as she pleases.

[Prof. Amir Attaran]

Sure, Mr. Chair, but I did hear a comment addressed to me. If my name is going to be used, I do feel the need to respond.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

You can give an answer. I just want to say, the mandate letter to the minister is the responsibilities, and this is the first government to declare that. It's the responsibilities in terms of how the minister can work and lead the government to work to strengthen public health.

This is a pandemic situation. We are all going through a very tough situation and we all have to work together. We have to find the solution. I know we start early in terms of the government response to COVID-19, and today we are seeing our researchers and seeing what more we can do to bend the curve or to plank the curve.

That is just my two cents. You can give any advice on that, too.

[Prof. Amir Attaran]

Thank you.

My advice is going to be let's not try to be dishonest about the past. It has not been a priority of any Canadian government—and I say this equally of Conservative or Liberal governments—to prepare for pandemics. After SARS, we had a very clear warning and we had a national study on lessons learned. Nearly all the recommendations from that report weren't implemented.

With respect to the mandate letters, no, it is actually not correct that any of the—

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Attaran—

[Prof. Amir Attaran]

—mandate letters mention pandemic preparedness at all.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Attaran, this is not a partisan issue. How can we plank the curve? Can we work together and see whether the vaccines are working and that type of thing? Can the CIHR do more for public research, for PPE? Can you give advice on that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Ms. Sidhu, I'm going to cut you off there. You're well over time.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We'll go to Ms. Rempel Garner.

Ms. Rempel Garner, please go ahead. You have five minutes.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

All my questions are directed to Mitch Davies, the representative that the Department of Industry has designated to answer our questions today.

Mr. Davies, as you can imagine, many Canadians are wondering how their lives can get back to some level of normalcy. Has the government or any official internal to your department directed your department to prepare or participate in any type of formally structured, federal government-led national economic relaunch strategy that includes staged and safe lifting of mass isolation measures?

[Mitch Davies]

In addition to the work I referenced in my opening comments in terms of moving Canada's industrial capacity to address the immediate needs to produce critical equipment, it's also important, obviously, that we look to when the economy is going to return and what conditions will be required. Again, those matters are under the care or responsibility of the public health experts, but certainly there are areas where innovation, technology and the deployment of the right responses—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Davies, I have a very short period of time. My specific question was this: Have you been directed to participate in a formal strategy to relaunch the economy?

Many other countries already have that type of panel put together, and today the Prime Minister wasn't clear on his answer. Therefore, I wonder if the government or any department official internal to your department has directed your department to begin work on a formal framework for this.

[Mitch Davies]

We, in our department, are working with the Department of Finance, which is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Davies, I'm not hearing you. I'm wondering if you're speaking loudly enough.

[Mitch Davies]

It was working. Can you hear me now?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I can hear him, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Oh, thanks very much.

[Mitch Davies]

My apologies.

I was just providing the answer that in the department we are working with the Department of Finance, with the Department of Health, with the Public Health Agency of Canada in looking into the issue that's been raised by the honourable member, which is obviously recovery and return to work. We are working jointly with those departments on the strategies that will get us forward into that—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Is there a formal framework for this that the committee could review?

[Mitch Davies]

Mr. Chair, I do not have a formal document or a framework that I would introduce at this time. It is a conversation that is—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

[Mitch Davies]

—very much ongoing in the Government of Canada.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

I'll now ask some questions with regard to a National Post article that reported that the federal government is undertaking efforts to assist provinces in preparing contact tracing systems related to COVID-19.

Has the government or any official internal to your department directed your department to prepare advice to the government on potential privacy issues related to utilizing individual testing data and contact tracing as part of a strategy to begin lifting mass isolation measures?