Good question, and I'm sorry we missed our meeting on the 13th.
First, you have to start by saying to yourself that at this moment the Public Health Agency of Canada is often considered the poor cousin of Health Canada. It has very little money; it has very little influence. If it has a major issue during a crisis like this, it has to report to two or three people before actually getting to report to cabinet. My proposal for a council is that it should not be reporting only to one or two people, but also reporting to a body of people who can actually make decisions very quickly about the country, not just about a province or a problem. It would be reporting to the Prime Minister or even reporting to cabinet. That would give it the authority and the visibility and allow it to have access to decision-makers across the country.
The other thing, too, is I think there has to be a review of the relationship of the Public Health Agency of Canada with the various provinces and how they work. I have to admit, very politely, that I think the communications and the coordination exchanged this time was much better than during the time of SARS. When the government wanted to really act, it did very well by trying to get all the people around the table to discuss issues such as ventilators and PPE.
However, I would like it to be given more power and some visibility and access to decision-makers, and also the authority to be able to speak to the person who has to make the decisions, and not have to go through a number of levels before reaching the top individual in government.