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Following ‘scathing’ AG report, Canadians still looking for answers about pandemic preparedness, says MP, experts
By Mike Lapointe March 29, 2021
The auditor general's office found that the Global Public Health Intelligence Network did not provide an early warning about the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam pictured speaking with reporters at a news conference at Sir John A. Macdonald building in October. Auditor General Karen Hogan’s report, released on March 25, 2021, outlined a lack of preparedness on the part of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in the lead up to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
The federal government’s public health system was “substantially poorly prepared for a global pandemic”—and the government has to tell Canadians why early alerts surrounding COVID-19 weren’t issued, says NDP MP Don Davies, his party’s health critic, after the auditor general released a report last week.
Mike LapointeMike Lapointe joined the The Hill Times in June 2019 and covers the federal public service, deputy ministers, the Privy Council Office, public service unions, the Phoenix pay system, the machinery of government, and the Parliament Hill media.
Follow - mlapointe@hilltimes.com
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