Evidence of meeting #18 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was patients.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Thériault.
We go now to Mr. Davies.
Mr. Davies, go ahead for two and a half minutes, please.
6:15 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Dr. Bhutani, there is talk across this country about reopening parts of our economy and our society. I'm wondering what advice you would have for the committee.
What are some of the considerations we should be looking at? What are the guidelines or guideposts that should guide us in having a health-based, rational approach to reopening?
6:15 p.m.
Representative, Canadian Lung Association and Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Alberta
What I alluded to earlier is that testing is really the key piece here. Until a vaccine becomes available and we can inoculate the population to help resist the infection from being developed, we really need to be able to identify very quickly and accurately who has had it, who they've been exposed to, and work within a parameter of public health to quarantine those patients if that's the scenario that's needed.
I think it's very clear. I think we need to go at this very methodically and very slowly. As you remember, everything we've gone through over the past few months has been to save lives and to prevent our health care system from collapsing. We won't be any farther ahead if we open the doors too quickly. We have to do it in a very methodical way. I think testing and contact tracing is really critical to all of this. We really need to be prepared for this.
I think we've alluded to this conversation a little bit throughout the afternoon, that every province has a bit of a different strategy. I echo Mr. Cloutier's comment that there should be a national strategy where everyone is treated the same. We need to be working towards that.
6:15 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Last word to you, Mr. Cloutier. There has been reference in this meeting and at others of drug shortages in this country. Canada at one time had a public drug company, Connaught Laboratories.
Is it time for the federal government to look at re-establishing a national public drug company that could work with academic institutions, which, after all, provide a lot of the research that goes into new chemicals to help Canada perhaps address the chronic problem of drug shortages?
6:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, HealthCareCAN
I think that it would be important to do that, but I think before actually establishing a company you would have to have a national drug strategy, to which all of the parties would be—and I'm not saying political parties, but all of the players involved in this—at the table. I think it would be premature to establish a company without having that strategy ahead.
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Davies.
Thank you to all of the witnesses for sharing your valuable time with us and for all of your even more valuable experience and expertise.
I would also like to thank all the members for being here. It's good to see all of you day by day.
I would like to draw everyone's attention to the purpose of these meetings and remind them that what we are mandated to do is to receive evidence concerning matters relating to the government's response to the COVID pandemic. I know that we've touched on a lot of wide-ranging health issues today. It's not uncommon for us to do that, but I would really encourage the members to focus on the mandate we have, which is to receive evidence relating to the government's response.
Once again, that said, thank you, everyone, for your time and your excellent questions.
I declare the meeting adjourned.