Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Oct. 29th, 2020

[Dr. Barbara Raymond]

That has been a topic of discussion very much along the same lines of the groups that Dr. Henry described, and examining the safest way to permit everyone who is able and wants to vote to do so.

Those are people who have limited mobility, who may be quarantined or isolated, who may be at high risk and therefore at home, and individuals in long-term care or other types of congregate living settings. All of them have received consideration.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you.

Dr. Henry, you mentioned that the political parties in B.C. had a steering committee or an advisory committee on best practices or safe practices for campaigning. Would you consider the establishment of such a committee an election best practice from a public health point of view?

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

Yes. Elections BC has a standing committee on an ongoing basis, and we use that platform to discuss the importance of having guidance around elections in a pandemic. I believe it would be a best practice, yes.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Is there a key set of campaign activities that you think is particularly important for political parties to discuss and ideally reach some kind of agreement on, in terms of what the safest way to conduct campaign activity would be?

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

Yes. I heard a lot of concern in communities about people going door to door. That is part of political campaigning; I understand that, but there are alternative ways of doing that and making sure that people know they could signal their concerns if they don't want somebody to come to their door. That was one of the biggest concerns people had, so we put out some guidance to support being able to campaign. A lot of people I know were doing it by phone or connecting remotely.

The other one is about having rallies or some of the large get-togethers that are common during elections. We have a limit on gatherings here in British Columbia. The number involved in gatherings varies across the country. We provided guidance around having them outside with small numbers, wearing masks and all the other important things that we know work to protect people.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you very much.

Dr. Raymond, are these things on the minds of people at the Public Health Agency of Canada when they think about the potential of our being in an election? If so, what are some of the campaign behaviours that PHAC believes political parties ought to be talking about and establishing guidelines or best practices prior to an election?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Unfortunately, that's all the time we have, Mr. Blaikie. You're going to have to try to get that in at your next slot.

Next, we have Mr. Tochor for five minutes, please.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Thank you to our witnesses for appearing today.

I will carry on with what the honourable member from the Bloc was asking about rapid testing.

Dr. Henry, if we had rapid testing, would you have that available for key members on your staff? Outside of the fact that we don't have rapid testing approved in Canada, did you have a way to get test results back more quickly for those key members to make sure that the election occurred as smoothly as possible?

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

The short answer is no. People who had symptoms and who were concerned about COVID-19.... Our testing strategy in B.C. has always been to test people who have symptoms, so there was a process and it was available to everybody.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I'll go back to the timeline you laid out.

The election was supposed to be held in March, and then on your recommendation that it wasn't safe or we didn't know enough about the virus at the time.... I'm paraphrasing, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Then, several months later, you felt it was safe enough to recommend to the premier that an election could be done in a safe manner. Is that correct?

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

That's not correct. No, I do not recommend anything to the premier. The political decisions are made by the political people. My relationship and my purpose is to provide health advice to Elections BC about how to carry out an election safely. Elections BC has the ability to postpone or stop an election if they have concerns.

They consulted with us because there were municipal elections that were meant to occur in March. At that time, it was right at the time when we did not understand what was happening. We had a rapid surge of cases and we were trying to manage the pandemic. My advice to Elections BC was that the municipal elections that were meant to happen on March 14 be postponed.

The decision to call an election is not mine. It's not Elections BC. It's the political parties. I did not provide advice, nor was I asked for advice, nor would I expect to be asked for advice on calling an election.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Just to confirm, the premier never talked to you directly about holding an election during the pandemic.

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

No, he did not.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Okay.

Dr. Raymond, in your statement you said not to lose hope. If we go into an election federally and people are in quarantine without some of the measures that the B.C. elections people...vote, then those people in quarantine or in the hospital would have their rights as a voter diminished.

How would they not lose hope? I know that's a partisan question, and more so for parliamentarians. From a health standpoint, can you see the risks of an election changing people's hopes perhaps, on the pandemic? As we go through the fatigue of COVID-19, there has to be a breaking point. Are there concerns this could be the breaking point?

[Dr. Barbara Raymond]

That's an interesting question.

To start, I don't envision a scenario where Canadians would be deprived of their right to vote. I think every possible contingency plan is being put into place to enable that to happen. It is a challenging time right now. We are on a long road—I say it's the long and winding road, so I at least hear the theme music. It's also getting colder and darker. It's very important for each and every one of us to try to maintain that hope and to try to be a bit of light in the darkness on the road, rather than a doomsayer, screaming that the end is nigh just around the next bend.

I do not think Canadians should lose hope. I think Canadians should be exceptionally proud of how far we have come and how hard we have worked to get here. There is no shame in being fatigued. It has been a long haul. I look at Bonnie Henry. I know how hard she's been working. I've been at this since December 31.

It is tiring, but I am more proud of Canadians and hopeful for Canadians. I think Canadians have demonstrated great resilience and great capacity. I have no doubt they're going to continue on the road, that we are going to come to the end and it's going to be a sunny day, but there's a slog ahead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you.

Mr. Turnbull, go ahead.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I couldn't agree more.

I want to thank you, Dr. Raymond and Dr. Henry, for the exceptionally important work you do to protect the health and safety of Canadians. I know that force of hope is truly a powerful force in people's lives. We shouldn't lose sight of that. Thank you for being here, both of you.

I have a few questions. I'll start with Dr. Raymond.

You mentioned in your opening remarks that the Public Health Agency of Canada has been engaging with Elections Canada. I understand that your role is to provide expert opinion, advice and evidence on public health practices related to understanding the risks and mitigation strategies.

Could you table with this committee some of those engagements in terms of a timeline and perhaps some of the risk mitigation strategies that have been recommended? I think it would be really helpful for us in this study.

[Dr. Barbara Raymond]

Certainly, I believe we can share some of the chronology of engagement. It has been ongoing. There are formal engagement meetings, and then there are numerous calls and informal consultations. But sure, we will do our best on that.

In terms of advice provided, I would say that the bulk of advice provided is consistent with our existing guidance and so forth, perhaps customized a little bit or applied situationally. However, that's all available as well.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Great. If you're willing to table that, that would be really helpful. I think the timeline and the amount of communication happening is certainly comforting for me and builds confidence in the Elections Canada process. Thank you for that.

I have another question for you, Dr. Raymond.

The COVID Alert app is fully functional here in Ontario and is available in many other provinces. I think it's a very helpful tool to let people know whether they've been exposed to COVID-19. I wonder if you could speak to the importance of this app and the exposure notification in limiting the spread of the infection and in preventing future outbreaks.

[Dr. Barbara Raymond]

The COVID Alert app is one tool in our tool box, one additional measure we have implemented in an attempt to reach out and increase the number of people who may be aware that they've been unknowingly exposed. It certainly has areas of applicability.

I would like to highlight that this is a relatively new app as well. We are really starting to see increased uptake of it. We're starting to see a value benefit for individuals who are using it, and we are encouraging all who wish to, to use it. It's an interesting tool, because again, it is essentially sort of a social contract. It's people sharing their information in a safe and confidential and anonymous way to help others, so I think of it as a very Canadian approach.

It's one tool, but it's not the only tool.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

It sounds like it's not the only tool, but it's an important tool in our tool box to help mitigate the risk.

Thank you for that testimony. I appreciate that.

Dr. Henry, you mentioned in your remarks that you had effectively allayed some of the fears of the general public in the election in B.C. What were the key factors in allaying those fears? That's certainly a concern I have in terms of voter turnout, that there's a general fear out there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

You have 30 seconds, please.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Was Elections BC responsible for working with you on that? Was it a public health initiative? Can you explain a little bit more about that?

[Dr. Bonnie Henry]

Sure. We worked closely with Elections BC and Anton Boegman, the chief electoral officer. I did a press briefing, but we also made it available publicly, the work that we were doing together and the fact that we had guidance in place.

Really, it was about making sure that we could carry on these important functions safely and reassuring people that we could, making sure there were options for people who didn't feel comfortable going to a voting place, and making sure the voting places themselves were run as efficiently as possible and had the precautions in place that worked. Being open about that and letting people know what precautions were in place was very important.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you.