National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. We will.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I mentioned this earlier, if I got the question right. We very much have adopted force health protection measures—all of the public health measures that we adopt in the country—and have added an additional layer in very specific cases and very specific regions.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, very much so. Mindful of the rising numbers of COVID cases in some of the countries in which we operate, we put additional measures in place to protect ourselves and to limit contact. In some of those places, we have curtailed some specific activities over the last months, and we are resuming some of that training at the request of the country in which we work.

National Defence committee  While we have individuals in the medical intelligence section who look at medical conditions across the globe, they exclusively look at what happens outside of Canada, for obvious reasons. At home, it is through the Public Health Agency. It is through our partners that we understand the dynamics of what is happening in the country.

National Defence committee  We should perhaps consider this question, take it on notice. I am not well equipped to answer this question fully, and there are also things that we would prefer to take on notice.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. We're very mindful that we live among society and therefore are subject to the same regulations and the same measures. The guidance is that we follow local, provincial and territorial measures. That's the first point. The other issue I'd like to emphasize is that the chief of the defence staff and the deputy minister jointly published a directive to the department and to the CAF on business resumption, with a set of guiding principles and a very logical lay-down of the measures by phase, if you will, or by levels.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, thank you very much for the question. As you might expect, I will turn it over to Admiral Patterson in a second. I would say that throughout, as we learned a lot about the COVID pandemic, we adopted force health protection measures. That is also true for our medical professionals, whether they are military or non-military members of the CAF and DND.

National Defence committee  Certainly, from my viewpoint, in what we experienced in the last few months as a large number of CAF and DND members were on stay-at-home orders, we had significantly fewer people in some of the buildings. Mindful of the challenge of higher cleaning standards and additional cleaning requirements imposed on a small workforce, including our contractors, they focused on those areas that were, obviously, more demanding in terms of work hours or quantity of personnel.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. I want to point out that, based on our experience last spring and summer, we've continued—although in an extremely gradual and cautious manner—the training and force generation activities for our activities or operations abroad.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. We were able to learn both important and innocuous lessons. For example, we learned how to make sure that we have a good supply of personal protective equipment. We had some inventory, but we acquired more. We continue to do this at the federal level, as do all other entities, including provincial entities.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. I'll respond in French. As noted, the pandemic is, and has been, extremely challenging for everyone across the country. I'll give you an overview of the process. Both provincial and territorial authorities voice their needs within their own systems.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. Exactly. However, I'd say that the process isn't quite as straightforward as you might think. Each request is different. Some situations are perhaps a little less abstract for most Canadians, such as floods or forest fires. The province's capacity is overwhelmed.

National Defence committee  This is a multi-faceted problem set, so let me just take on a very narrow, focused view. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone equally and certainly has affected potential adversaries. In this great power competition setting that we're in, it's certainly affected countries that may have northern or Arctic ambitions as well.

National Defence committee  I would say that, as I mentioned earlier, if COVID has affected everyone in the problem set that we just discussed, it equally has affected areas in which we operate in such a way that some of the training activities, some of the engagements, were curtailed by the nation in which we worked because of the high prevalence of COVID or a high number of COVID cases.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, this is one that I will turn over to my colleague, General Mialkowski, in a second. Before I do, let me tell you that, generally speaking, we have adopted very rigorous measures to ensure that we protect ourselves and are not becoming threat vectors, as previously mentioned.