Government Operations committee  PSPC may have been involved in the contract itself, as the executing agency working with our agency of record, but the actual content of advertising material would land with the program holder.

Government Operations committee  On the Spartan Cube, it's still evolving there. I think, as the member has highlighted, the company is going through some challenges with their testing. There was an advance payment made related to Spartan to get them going. We'll see where this goes.

Government Operations committee  I think, Mr. Chair, we—

Government Operations committee  There are a couple points, and I think the member touched on this in his question. There was some risk-taking being done in terms of new products—

Government Operations committee  —so this was not like buying a standard product. The reason I say “evolving” is that we're not entirely sure of what Spartan's plans are going forward. To date they have not delivered any test to the federal government. That doesn't mean they won't in the future. That's why I'm

Government Operations committee  There are a couple of points. Number one, I don't think it's fair to paint all the provinces with the same brush. Number two, I think it's a matter of their finding the sweet spot, if there is a buffer in the freezers, in case there's a delay or two, versus actually stockpiling

Government Operations committee  I don't have the recent statistics province by province, but it's probably a question better posed to health folks. You can't be operating such that there's nothing in the freezer, in case there's a delay or two. You do want to keep enough in reserve for a buffer, but not a big

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Madam Minister. As the member and the minister have already indicated, we may have too many ventilators. So there are several options. We could keep them in case we need them in the future. Alternatively, we could see if other countries need them. However, as far as

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Minister. Not an excess, but the majority of freezers have been deployed out to provinces and territories. The Public Health Agency of Canada would be able to provide an exact answer on the numbers, but we think that things have gone quite well on the freezer front so

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. I would just like to say that we will be updating this web page in the next few weeks with the latest information.

Government Operations committee  I can provide the details to the committee after the meeting, if you don't mind.

Government Operations committee  There is a concerted effort to increase indigenous participation in procurement, so awarding a high number of contracts through the COVID-specific procurement as well as in general.... Mr. Chair, I may turn to my colleague Lorenzo to finish this off, if that's okay.

Government Operations committee  The discussions with the company are ongoing. There is a different interpretation of their meeting of the contract requirements.

Government Operations committee  I will check with my colleague Ms. Reza to correct me, but I believe not. Arianne, can you confirm that? They're no longer involved.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, going from memory on this one, I don't believe they were, but if I have that incorrect, we can clarify with you.