Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, not to my knowledge. Again, the basis of our public health information and guidance is ultimately from our conversations with the special advisory committee and the Public Health Agency of Canada. All the evidence-based information that we use to base our decisions on in each jurisdiction comes originally from the Public Health Agency of Canada and our discussions with the special advisory committee, which includes all the chief medical officers of health for the entire country.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think because I represent public health.... Again, I can't put words in the premier's mouth. Certainly, any time that I was asked what my role was in the election and decisions around it, I said that the only input I really had was how to do it safely. Obviously, if you're going to try to reduce the risk to zero, that's impossible.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Do you want me to go first?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Communications are a really big part of what happens in any crisis management. Evidence-based, transparent, up-to-date information around risks and what behaviours people have to do to keep themselves and their communities safe is very important. Here in New Brunswick, we have the luxury of having a low number of cases due to a lot of hard work and a lot of protocols that are placed around our borders and the Atlantic bubble.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's the same as Saskatchewan. The protocols are part of Elections New Brunswick. We provided advice in writing, in terms of our public health advice, but their operational plans and protocols were set by them.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  They did reach out ahead of time, but I don't know how far in advance. Again, I think the idea of the safety of elections in terms of public health advice.... With each phase of our recovery and with each new onset of different things that were going to be opening, we would take on that as a chunk of work.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My understanding is that there was a lot of back-and-forth and input. We gave them our advice, and then they came back to us with their operational plan, and then we helped them improve that operational plan to make it as safe as possible.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's hard to say, because there wasn't any outbreak at that time. Granted, people living in rural areas may behave differently in this situation. Dr. Shahab clearly stated that it was possible to vote by mail.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  People in long-term care facilities were only able to vote by mail because we didn't want to increase the risks.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can't really see the length of time of the writ period affecting the safety of an election with respect to the public health measures that would be in place throughout.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I can.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Are you going to be submitting these in writing? I'm not taking notes, but I can take notes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Okay, great.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.