Government Operations committee  I can give a couple of reactions to that from a procurement perspective. There are existing tools out there that actually allow for Canadian innovation to be factored into procurement. You often hear from start-ups that—

Government Operations committee  I am not sure I understand that part of the question.

Government Operations committee  I think we have a good range of contracts out there, Canadian and elsewhere, but we do have a sector dedicated to especially small and medium-sized enterprises who are looking to break in. That's what the OSME group does inside PSPC. There are other programs out there as well. There are existing programs that one can use and take advantage of and that try to assist Canadian industry where appropriate.

Government Operations committee  The competitive process is under way, so we're not at the negotiation stage yet. Again, the role of Public Services and Procurement Canada in this regard is to help manage that process and negotiate the contract, but the actual funding for that contract will come out of the Public Health Agency of Canada's budget.

Government Operations committee  There are a couple of points there. Number one, most of the vaccines we're talking about require two doses. As mentioned, none of these vaccines is yet approved for use, so it's not certain that they will come to fruition, but Canada does have the option to donate doses to other countries if that is of interest.

Government Operations committee  Am I the only one hearing the echo?

Government Operations committee  Certainly. I'm very much looking forward to Mr. Green's questions.

Government Operations committee  When we are doing procurements in specific areas, we certainly do community benefits plans, indigenous being the most obvious one. It would be hard for me to say that we follow it across the board. It depends on the nature of the procurement and whether there's an under-represented group that's actually impacted there.

Government Operations committee  I will pass that question over to James, and if he does not have the answer, we will get back to you with that one in writing. James.

Government Operations committee  I don't know if it is available publicly or not, but I can find out, and we can get back to you on that.

Government Operations committee  Certainly. The change in direction as a result of the laboratories Canada initiative is around creating hubs of laboratories as opposed to having individual departments do their own thing. There are a number of hubs that have been created. The PSPC part of that story would be around contracting for and helping build the infrastructure required for the labs and really getting some economies of scale in how they're stood up.

Government Operations committee  It's a bit of both. In some cases there will be new facilities, and some cases will improve or expand existing facilities, so there's a mix. Obviously, if we can make use of an existing facility, that's a more economical way to go. In some cases, the facilities are so far run down or unfit for the purpose that a new facility makes more sense.

Government Operations committee  Certainly, and it's one of those things that COVID threw a curveball towards because a lot of our plastics usage was in things like food courts in our buildings that we own or lease. We were working with the vendors, proactively with like-minded people, to work towards not using single-use plastics and more environmentally friendly products instead.

Government Operations committee  The current medical funding would come from the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the expenses there would eventually be in their budget. In addition to the vaccine contracts themselves, PSPC has a process under way around distribution to contract with a third party logistics provider specifically on vaccines.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely not.