That's it exactly.
In that kind of context, you need to have supporting data to explain things so that people understand the repercussions of our recommendations.
Let's use Quebec as an example. On March 3, 2020, a decision was made to close all schools, and most of us wondered whether that was the right thing to do. Of course, at the time, there were no other options. We didn't have any data; there was no reliable information that would allow us to know whether it was serious or not, and the schools were closed.
But then without knowing what the impact of closing schools would have on students, how long can they be kept closed? How do we make up for the lost time at school afterwards?
The POPCORN platform includes all of the 16 pediatric hospitals in Canada except for the one in Thunder Bay. The members of this network can look at administrative data to see the impact of public health measures on the mental health of children following the pandemic.
They could potentially provide convincing data and make recommendations to decision-makers, who in turn could take steps to ensure that if there were a future pandemic—and there will be one—with people wondering what to do, it would be possible to assess the risks and benefits. Based on the assessment, decisions could be made about what has to be done, not only to prevent transmission, because we certainly don't want to clog up the hospitals, but also to address the potential consequences of the measures.
To get back to the educational side of things, tutoring would appear to be a highly effective option for making up the missed time at school. Professor Catherine Haeck may have spoken about this to you.
Being able to understand what's going on would allow us to make such recommendations.