Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
I'd like to start by asking PHAC this, specifically Mr. Allison. In the Office of the Auditor General's report number 8, the following was recommended:
The Public Health Agency of Canada should develop and implement a long-term, pan-Canadian health data strategy with the provinces and territories that will address both the long-standing and more recently identified shortcomings affecting its health surveillance activities.
The agency agreed to that recommendation, and I also believe that it created a corporate data and surveillance branch in October 2020. In the response from the agency—and I'm referring to page 48 of report number 8—it was indicated that “A long-term strategy is under development and is on track for completion by December 2021.”
Mr. Allison, are you in a position to be able to give us an update on where this strategy is? What are the short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives? Do you have a road map you can share with us, with some timelines?