OTTAWA -- The minister who鈥檚 been at the helm of the federal government鈥檚 health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year now says that a 鈥渇ull investigation鈥 into Canada鈥檚 response is required, at the 鈥渁ppropriate time.鈥
鈥淲e are still in a crisis and so our focus remains right now on getting Canadians and Canada through this global health crisis鈥 And when the time is right, our government will be very open to examining very thoroughly the response of this country to the COVID-19 crisis,鈥 Health Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters on Tuesday.
Her comments come in response to Conservative Leader Erin O鈥橳oole pledging Tuesday that if a Conservative government is elected, he鈥檇 launch a national public inquiry 鈥渢o examine every aspect of the government鈥檚 pandemic response.鈥
O鈥橳oole said that while Canada should focus now on getting through the pandemic, when it is over Canadians need answers and to implement the lessons learned. 鈥淲e need to know what worked and what didn't. We need complete transparency and accountability,鈥 he said.
Hajdu wouldn鈥檛 confirm that the Liberals would back a public inquiry, but said that the intent would be to have all Canadians participate.
鈥淲e're open to, you know, an inquiry that is as deep as necessary鈥 that gets to how our country can be better prepared to global health threats in the future,鈥 she said.
In the interim, O鈥橳oole is pushing for the federal government to appoint a 鈥渟pecial monitor鈥 within the office of the auditor general to track Canada鈥檚 ongoing pandemic response. O鈥橳oole said this independent role within the auditor general鈥檚 office would 鈥渕ake sure in real time we examine decisions made so that there could be a transparent examination in the future.鈥
A recent report from the federal auditor general found that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) 鈥渦nderestimated鈥 the potential impact of COVID-19, and was not adequately prepared to respond in the early days of the pandemic after failing to heed decades-long recommendations for changes.
Some of these recommendations not taken dated back to 1999.
鈥淚 am discouraged that the public health agency did not address long-standing issues, some of which were raised repeatedly for more than two decades. These issues negatively affected the sharing of surveillance information between the agency and the provinces and territories, during the pandemic,鈥 said Auditor General Karen Hogan when her report was unveiled on March 25.
鈥淲hat matters is that this never, ever happens again鈥 We must pledge to learn from the mistakes made,鈥 said the Conservative leader.
