Thank you, General.
Dr. Tam, on January 30, you noted that even though daily cases of COVID-19 are trending down, it's still too soon to lift lockdowns and ease other protective measures if Canada hopes to bring the pandemic under control. You pointed to the spread of several highly transmissible variants of the virus as evidence that it's too soon for the provinces to let their guards down. However, this week, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario all announced plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions, and Manitoba is also considering that.
As Canada's chief public health officer, do you believe that the federal government should implement minimum national standards for COVID-19 control to prevent highly transmissible variants from becoming established in provinces with insufficient control measures and then spreading interprovincially?