Thank you, Madam Chair.
Yes, I think this is fundamentally important. It is a pandemic. It's a public health crisis. I can't be clearer that the most important officials are our public health officials. Some provinces are showing signs that Canada's battle against COVID-19 may be taking a turn for the better, but we're not there yet.
Canada's chief public health officer said this Wednesday in a press conference that there's reason to be cautiously optimistic that the spread of COVID is slowing with cases in the country. Doubling rates are about every 10 days now, compared with three days in late March. However, the public health officer has warned that it's too soon to leave physical distancing measures and doing so would “be like making our way down from a mountain in the darkness”. I think it's very important that we hear from the chief public health officer for Canada, as well as other officials. I think they have to be among the first people we hear from, because we have to respect the public health, we have to respect the timing and we have to stick to the evidence.
Thank you.