Thank you, Madam Chair; and welcome to all the witnesses here this evening.
My first question, through you, Madam Chair, will be to Dr. Quirion. It's addressing one of his last statements about scientific literacy and the importance of it.
Almost from the start of the pandemic, the joint efforts of all levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal, were challenged and in some cases undermined by misinformation on social media or in other places.
I've been an elected official for 27 years now, and in all that time, I've welcomed opinions that differ from my own. I like my opinions and my comments and thoughts to be challenged by others, so feedback from my constituents has always been very important to me.
Through the pandemic, I heard some very disturbing comments, whether through the election process or through the last couple of weeks here in Ottawa with some of the events that we recently had to deal with. There were comments such as “You're listening to the wrong doctors,” or “You have the wrong information that you're using as a government to address the pandemic.” There seems to be a real resistance to science, whether it's the use of masks or the importance of vaccinations, and those comments stand in the way of our getting back to some sense of normalcy.
What can the federal government do as it relates to making investments or policy changes that combat misinformation? How do we appropriately respond to a shift in attitudes that question the validity of scientific evidence, and in some cases, the scientists who are helping us through the pandemic?