Health committee  Mr. Chair, thank you very much for once again inviting the Public Health Agency of Canada to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Canada. I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking to you from Ottawa, the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe pe

Health committee  A comprehensive approach, as Dr. Lucas has said, is very important. If there actually is an overdose, of course you need to treat with naloxone and then essentially meet the individuals where they are to get them into the help they need when they're ready. As I understand it, th

Health committee  I cannot answer that question. I think people do develop a tolerance. It may be different for different individuals.

Health committee  Yes, that would be correct. Also, one has to look a little further ahead in terms of projections as well. While disease activity may be low at one point in time, we know how this virus is mutating, so we also need to plan ahead. I think the government and the ministers are thinki

Health committee  Indeed this decriminalization applies only to adults, but I think the key is—

Health committee  Yes. The first thing is not to criminalize them, but to get help for them. I think they would be very unlikely to put themselves forward for further support or treatment if they knew they were going to be criminalized.

Health committee  I concur with Dr. Lucas that we need to take a comprehensive public health-orientated approach. Decriminalization of the simple possession of drugs is one aspect of it. It is important, particularly at this juncture, where there's a very toxic drug supply. We need people to be ab

Health committee  I don't think I can answer that question. During the pandemic there's been an observation that because of the disruption in the drug supply, there are some very lethal substances out there. However, these are essentially accidental overdoses that people are not aware of in terms

Health committee  As far as I know, the Public Health Agency of Canada, as part of the remittance from the last committee, provided the answers that this committee was looking for. The president of the agency has—

Health committee  I think the metrics are what they are. When you're looking for specific numbers, it's actually really difficult to do that, because you have to take into account all those metrics at the same time. They include what I've talked about, which is vaccine effectiveness, of course. Th

Health committee  Thank you for asking for that clarification. Three doses of vaccine against infection in symptomatic disease soon after you get that third dose is about 60%, but the studies range in their estimates, and for severe disease it is over 90%.

Health committee  The requirements for domestic transportation are in the domain of the Minister of Transport. Whether someone requires you to wear a mask or not, I would recommend that people add on that layer of protection, especially if the viral activity is high in your area, whether someone h

Health committee  I didn't say that. In terms of the local jurisdiction, they will know more than I do about the disease activity, but for the general population, I still advise people to layer on that protection, particularly if they're at high risk and to protect others.

Health committee  It's a question of people needing to understand the complexity of public health decision-making. You cannot make these very complex decisions based on a singular metric. The decision-makers have to take into account a number of metrics, even looking at health care capacity, which

Health committee  No, because it is up to the transport minister and, of course, for federal workers and relevant sectors, it's up to the Treasury Board minister as well.