Thank you, Chair.
I had a bunch of questions prepared, but I have to say that what I just heard, particularly from Dr. Fairbairn and Dr. Dawson, is very sobering. I would frame what I heard from the two of you this way. First of all, I acknowledge that COVID-19 is serious and we all have to work together to prevent it. I'm not putting any question there, but the prolonged impact of the measures we've seen has had significant corollary health impacts. I heard everything: mental health issues, isolation and suicide risk, opioid deaths, increase in substance abuse, the delays in surgery, increase in domestic violence and increased rates of depression. However, I think the line that stuck with me the most is “In trying to protect them, we're also harming them.”
This is what's been keeping me up at night as a policy-maker. How do we protect the public from COVID-19 and at the same time understand that we may be causing harm? It's an area I don't know how to talk about as a legislator because I don't want to diminish the severity of COVID-19, but at the same time there's a serious problem here.
I'm going to divide my time between the two of you, Dr. Fairbairn and Dr. Dawson, because you're on the front lines right now.
For each of you, what are three short-term recommendations? I know, to what Dr. Collins and Dr. Hetherington said, we need longer-term solutions to deal with the health care system in Canada. I couldn't agree more. But Dr. Fairbairn and Dr. Dawson, if you were sitting in my role right now, what are the three things you would do to make a short-term change to get to that nexus where we're protecting people from COVID-19 but also addressing some of the concerns you raised?
I will start with you, Dr. Fairbairn. I only have four minutes, so if you could keep your comments very short that would be helpful.