It differed significantly and radically. We doubled the contract value we did in the year with the same amount of staff. We did it in a position where in mid-March, when we were negotiating services, all of a sudden we were responsible for buying PPE for Canada—not just at the federal level, but to help the provinces and territories.
Buying PPE for Canada was not for the faint of heart. I was front and centre in that, working night and day with many other people who were working night and day, trying to build a supply chain that was able to pivot around the world and able to sort out the needs of Canadians in hospitals. It was incredibly intense. Every department came to us trying to seek the authority needed to deliver critical services to Canadians.
Add to that vaccine procurement in a globally competitive environment, trying to have call centres, getting freezers to keep vaccines, trying to work with a workforce that was exhausted and sick, and trying to deliver services for Canadian society, and it was a pretty intense period of time when a tremendous amount of work went on.
I heard in your question the work the public service is doing. The current situation we're facing in procurement is shattering. I've heard both the AG and the comptroller general of Canada caution that more rules are not required, but as you heard my colleague indicate, we've already started to put in new rules. We've started to enforce them and do what we can to increase our due diligence.
It's going to be a very difficult way forward, based on a year or two of pandemic readiness for PPE, ventilators and the many different commodities that had to be built and for which a supply chain had to be created where there was none before. It was certainly a very difficult period.