Evidence of meeting #9 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was working.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
My question was general. It wasn't just about Roxham Road.
In addition, we are told that Health Canada quarantine officers are not always on the ground. When there is a case at an airport, a call is made and the person gives instructions over the phone.
Is there no way to designate border services officers as quarantine officers, as the Government of Quebec has done for Sûreté du Québec officers?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Is that question for Mr. Vinette or for Mr. Ossowski?
Mr. Vinette, do you wish to respond to that?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Sir, it's John Ossowski. I'll respond to that.
We have worked out with Public Health a way to make sure that their agents, who are better placed than our officers, are available either by telephone or in person to assess the health of these individuals. It depends on the port of entry and the volumes we're working with. So far we're satisfied that people are getting the right medical advice with respect to the symptoms they are speaking about with the public health officials.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Paul-Hus.
We now go to Ms. Sidhu for five minutes.
Go ahead, please.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also want to thank all front-line workers, including the witnesses who are here today, for everything they do.
My first question is for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
I want to ask you about the hospitals that are already running at overcapacity, that have been accommodating and treating all patients during COVID-19. How can they get access to the national emergency stockpile? Can you update us on procurement efforts for medical supplies in Canada?
Liberal
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I had a little bit of difficulty hearing the question that was asked, but I think it was about whether hospitals are able to come to the national emergency stockpile and seek access to supplies.
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
Okay. That's great.
Regarding how we've been working with provinces and territories, we do not deal directly with every single health care institution in the country. We do deal directly with provinces and territories, who in turn, within their own jurisdiction, are interacting with all of the institutions that might exist in a particular jurisdiction. It's through that interaction that a province or territory would have an understanding of what might be necessary and whether inventory shortages or gaps might exist. Following the analysis done by jurisdictions, we get requests from those who have chosen to come to the federal government, who seek to join us collectively to do bulk procurements.
Mr. Chair, that's generally how the approach works.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
I'm also concerned about the mental health of Canadians during this stressful and unprecedented time. Is the federal government taking any measures to support the mental health of Canadians?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
I will turn this question over to my colleague at Health Canada, who is doing work in the context of providing that type of support.
Deputy Minister, Department of Health
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As I noted in my opening remarks, the Government of Canada has put out a request for proposals and is going to be awarding a contract to a group of providers who can provide an online mental health portal to allow comprehensive psychosocial supports for Canadians. We hope this will be launched in the coming days, and I can certainly update the committee when that happens. The aim is to ensure that Canadians have support through this stressful time by using a variety of online resources to enable them to address their mental health challenges and build resilience as we work through this pandemic.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
I'm from Brampton. Yesterday I had a conversation with the chief medical officer of Peel region, Dr. Lawrence Loh. Today I was talking to the CAO of Peel region, Nancy Polsinelli. Last weekend we also heard about nine deaths in one seniors home last week in Ontario, which has since risen to 13 deaths in long-term care homes. Clearly this is a tragedy in the community. How are we addressing this issue of long-term care home outbreaks? Are there any extra precautions?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Go ahead, Ms. Namiesniowski or Mr. Lucas, whoever chooses to respond.
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
We may do a bit of a tag-team approach perhaps.
In response to that question, certainly in the context of the discussions that are taking place among the chief public health officers, the Canadian chief public health officer and all of Dr. Tam's colleagues across the country, there is widespread recognition of the vulnerability of older Canadians, particularly those with underlying medical conditions, and the importance of trying to prevent any kind of introduction of the virus within a setting such as a long-term care home, given what could potentially happen. The tragedy that happened in the nursing home in Ontario is one that we all feel terrible about in the sense that it is not what anybody would ever want to see for elderly loved ones, or anyone at all for that matter. We have had a few instances, across the country, of clusters of patients within long-term care homes. In that context, there was work very early on among the chief public health officers to establish guidelines around infection prevention and control, which is a critical piece when it comes to dealing with those types of institutions.
In terms of the broad national guidance that obviously is taken by each jurisdiction and also interpreted by the kinds of institutions you would find within every single jurisdiction, right down to the level of an institution such as a long-term care home, which also would have plans and protocols in place for what should be done from the point of view of infection prevention and control, it is something that is discussed regularly in an effort to ensure that all are putting the necessary emphasis on trying to prevent those types of incidents that were described.
Perhaps I'll ask my colleague at Health Canada to see if he has anything he would like to add.
Deputy Minister, Department of Health
It's just to emphasize the critical importance of all jurisdictions and all of these facilities working very carefully to ensure that all of those measures that were noted are put in place. It is critical to protect the residents and to ensure that the workers in those facilities are healthy and that strong infection, prevention and control measures are in place. This is certainly an area that has been emphasized by Dr. Tam in her comments, and the provincial medical officers of health. We strongly support that and see the urgent need to continue that messaging and, when there are residents who are infected, take all the necessary steps to stop any spread within those facilities.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you.
We go now to Mrs. Jansen.
Mrs. Jansen, please go ahead for five minutes.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Unfortunately, the way this teleconference is going is a very good example of how the emergency relief program has been rolled out, just complete chaos. Hopefully, it will still work.
It's a good segue to my first question. When Minister Champagne told Canadians who were abroad to come home, they had to begin organizing their own emergency evacuation flights, which ended up including several transfers over multiple countries. Travellers were forced cheek by jowl in busy airports where it's impossible to practise social distancing.
I'm just wondering, what was the thought process in having people do their own organization? Especially, why couldn't the government have organized, perhaps, charter flights, where we could have had more direct travel for repatriating Canadians?