Hon. Marty Deacon: The timing is interesting on this. Yesterday, the National Security and Defence Committee took a look at disinformation as it relates to national security. But the conversation about health and health-related issues — for example, COVID — was not off the table. It’s certainly part of it. There is no question this is as complex as the day is long.
I don’t think this is a scope question, but I’m wondering from you, Senator Kutcher, if you were sitting at the Social Affairs Committee table looking at this, what expertise beyond the health sector — I was going to ask you what your dream solution was, but that’s such a complex issue. What expertise would you like to have at the table for this conversation?
Hon. Marty Deacon: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, and it concerns the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Gold, yesterday the Auditor General released two important reports on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, one on vaccine procurement and the other on COVID-19 benefits. These are two important snapshots of the government response that are part of a much larger picture.
Throughout the pandemic, I often heard that, through no fault of anybody’s, the government’s response to the pandemic was like building an airplane in mid-flight. There are lessons to be learned here that we cannot forget. We need a blueprint for the next big pandemic or whatever the next big thing is.
As we’ve been reminded through the daily work of Justice Rouleau, a commission of inquiry is incredibly effective at working through events in a transparent and systematic way.
Does the government intend to establish a commission of inquiry into the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, when can we expect this to occur?