Thank you very much, Chair.
I think what we need here is really related to advice and knowledge of experts. The comments of the Prime Minister, for instance, calling those who didn't get immunized racist and misogynist were very divisive. We need to get this country back on track with respect to science. When we realize that this entire country—the world, in fact—has had the opportunity to move significantly forward, related really to advancements in science, part of the difficulty is in using semi-scientific words and political motivation in the place of science. This has hurt society significantly.
We must continue to add science advice and the knowledge of experts, many around the world who were Canadian and had the ability to look at the science of what was happening with the pandemic and give some reasonable advice. I would suggest that's important.
I would also suggest, though, that we be incredibly careful in determining who these scientific experts are, in the sense that, during the pandemic, there were many social media stars who came forward to attempt to explain the pandemic to Canadians and indeed to all citizens of the world. I wasn't entirely convinced that all of them were truly experts. We would often hear that someone was—I'll just make this up—a cardiologist, who would then go on to talk about epidemiology. I think that's an important thing. That doesn't mean that cardiologists are not important or they're not intelligent, but it means, quite simply, that they're not epidemiologists.
A person may have an ability to explain things, but if they don't have a significant expertise, then they should not be viewed as experts in the subject matter at hand. Therefore, I think that continuing on with rebuilding the faith in science in this country is going to be very important. I would suggest that continuing to divide Canadians and calling them racists and misogynists doesn't add any ability to advance an argument. It's simply akin to shaming and blaming, and that doesn't make any sense at all when we're trying to advance a significant scientific argument.
I would suggest to my colleagues that, even though when I made a shorter intervention, they clearly voted against that short intervention, and when I made a long intervention, they voted for it, it might be necessary, even though they didn't like it, to explain and re-explain the nature thereof, and that perhaps the length of the explanation is also important.
That being said, Chair, suffice it to say that having scientific experts who are not simply social media stars would be essential in any inquiry that is coming up.