Government Operations committee  I've been the vice-president since the middle of January 2020.

Government Operations committee  I joined the Public Health Agency in 2015.

Government Operations committee  Our president is the president of the Public Health Agency.

Government Operations committee  Our president is Mr. Iain Stewart.

Government Operations committee  I'm unable to answer the question as it has been asked.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, certainly we would have been part of the recommendations which looked at specific requests that would be required. I couldn't speak to a specific recommendation to the Minister of Health, no.

Government Operations committee  As I've stated, we are in active response mode right now and we'll continue to prioritize the provision of critical supplies to the provinces and territories. We will continue with incremental changes and continuous improvement in the midst of the pandemic, but we will be looking for, when we've seen things like a decrease in or removal of the emergency orders in the provinces and territories, some of the key metrics that say we are out of pandemic mode and Canada is moving more into the steady state of COVID-19.

Government Operations committee  As outlined in the report of the Office of the Auditor General, a number of improvements and procedures were put in place in response to the pandemic. Building on that work and our ability to respond to the provinces and territories, we'll be taking that further to work on a longer-term strategic plan for the national emergency strategic supply.

Government Operations committee  I will turn to my colleague at PSPC to assist in responding to that question.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, yes. That would reflect the approach we're taking with respect to life-cycle management and our state of readiness.

Government Operations committee  That's correct.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, the life-cycle management for the personal protective equipment that we purchased remains a top priority. We have continued to function on a first-in, first-out basis, so that we're sending out the oldest supplies first. We continue to work through our provincial governance structures—the logistics advisory committee—with our provincial counterparts in terms of discussing life-cycle management and options, as well as to work with the provinces and territories for the mechanisms to best distribute equipment.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, working with our counterparts at Global Affairs Canada, we have looked at a number of areas in the world that are challenged with respect to COVID response. Where there are commodities that are in surplus of what we may require in Canada, we have been looking to work on international donations.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, early on in the pandemic, at a federal level and, as well, our provincial and territorial counterparts, purchasing was done in a way to obtain whatever products we could get our hands on that would provide infection prevention control for our front-line health care workers.

Government Operations committee  One of the basic premises or principles underpinning emergency response is that municipalities, provinces and territories are prepared to deal with emergencies and have the supplies to do that. It certainly wouldn't be the role of the Public Health Agency of Canada to deliver health care services or have the supplies to deliver them.