Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I think we're all agreeing here, which is fantastic. Canada needs a team Canada approach. I will agree with my colleagues on that, and our members. The government should want to work with the opposition in tackling this crisis, and I'm glad that we're all here today. I look forward to hopefully meeting next week and discussing this.
You know, at the very least, if Parliament is not meeting, this committee should be meeting in preparation for Parliament on January 31. All of the solutions to the problems that plague this country—the lockdowns, hospital capacity, lack of PPE, lack of emergency testing, nurse and doctor shortages, antiviral medications, Health Canada approvals and vaccine readiness—should all be debated in this committee, with the recommendations not coming fast enough to all of Parliament. I think we've heard that from all of our colleagues.
First on the list is why Canada has such a low capacity rate in our hospitals and little to no surge capacity as this pandemic nears its peak. This pandemic touches every single part of the country—the health and mental health and well-being of the entire populous along with the economic well-being.
I'm going to be very brief: Let's get to work. It sounds like we're on the right path here. Let's all agree to hear from our health professionals, our government and from all of our parties as we fight our way out of this pandemic together.
Thank you very much. Let's get to work.