:
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me here today.
Before we begin, I would like to thank the people working behind the scenes to make this meeting possible.
I also want to thank our interpreters, who continue to play an exceptional role in ensuring Canadians have the latest information.
I am meeting you today from Ottawa, which is on the traditional territory of the Algonquin peoples.
[English]
When we last met in this committee, it is fair to say the world was a very different place. Since then, we have all seen the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our daily lives have been disrupted; our economy has faced challenges, and loved ones are falling ill. We know Canada may be dealing with spikes in infections for months to come. It is clear that we must address our short-term needs and plan for the long term so we are prepared for all possible scenarios.
Through this crisis, our government is committed to doing whatever it takes to keep Canadians safe, protect our economy and get everyone the help they need. We all appreciate the measures Canadians have taken to curb the spread of the virus, and we are especially proud of the doctors, nurses and health care providers on the front lines. Their work is critical, and that is why my department is so focused on procuring the personal protective equipment that Canadians and those on the front lines need.
[Translation]
Our procurement experts continue to work day and night, aggressively buying from all available suppliers and distributors.
[English]
It is no secret that we are operating in a highly competitive global environment. The entire world is seeking out the same materials, be they masks, tests, gloves or gowns, and supply chains are stressed at multiple points. This is resulting in a complex procurement environment where there are many risks. Mr. Vice-Chair, allow me to explain our procurement strategy in this unpredictable setting.
The first part is to buy existing inventory immediately at home and around the world to meet our most pressing needs. We are leaving no stone unturned. The second part of our approach has been to place large consolidated bulk orders on behalf of the provinces and territories. This helps us to attract suppliers in a competitive marketplace and keep a steady stream of goods flowing across our border.
Let me take a moment to explain how we are using our online channels to engage suppliers. On March 12, we sent out a call for companies to help Canada fight the outbreak on our online platform Buyandsell.gc.ca. The response has been overwhelming, with more than 26,000 submissions received. I am pleased to say that we have made at least initial contact with all domestic suppliers who have come forward to offer their help. We are aggressively working through submissions, placing priority on the offers for supplies for those most in need that already meet Health Canada standards. We are also making large international purchases.
Our government has called on Canadian companies to ramp up domestic manufacturing. At the same time, companies from across this country have answered the call, and my department is quickly establishing contracts with them. For example, we are finalizing a long-term contract with Medicom out of Montreal to produce tens of millions of N95 respirators and surgical masks annually right here in Canada. We have also established contracts for tens of thousands of ventilators with Thornhill Medical, CAE Inc., Ventilators for Canadians, Linamar, and StarFish Medical, all Canadian manufacturers.
Some Canadian companies are completely retooling their production lines to meet our needs. These are companies like Bauer in Quebec, which has gone from making hockey equipment to making face shields for front-line medical workers. Stanfield's in Nova Scotia is set to provide us with 100,000 medical gowns per week. Irving Oil in New Brunswick is another great example. They have retooled their lines to produce hand sanitizer and will deliver in the coming weeks.
These companies demonstrate the Canadian ingenuity and tenacity that will see us through this crisis. While we are focused on buying the most vital supplies, we are also supporting the fight against COVID-19 through other procurements. These include contracts for nursing services, security, cleaning, as well as air charters to repatriate Canadians. There are also contracts for first nations paramedics and mobilized community shelters, to name a few.
Through all of this, we have significantly changed our approach to buying and accelerating the procurement process, especially when it comes to meeting Canada's urgent needs. We are working around the clock to get contracts in place as fast as possible and in an intensely competitive market.
[Translation]
Underlying our buying effort is close collaboration with provinces and territories, as well as domestic industry players. To this end, I have established a federal-provincial-territorial ministerial table to discuss opportunities for collaborating around procurement in the fight against COVID-19.
[English]
I have also had constructive discussions with business leaders in the Canadian medical supply community so that we can continue to address the most pressing procurement issues and work together on a shared path forward.
Let me turn to the international supply chain. While contracts are put in place and domestic production ramps up, we still need to bring in internationally sourced materials and much of it is coming from China. While we have experienced challenges, we have had some successes. A number of planes have continued to come from China. We have set up a procurement approach to bring in supplies from China to ensure that quality products get here with as little delay as possible. Our government is also working with American officials to ensure that vital supplies continue to flow across our border.
One federally chartered plane returned to Canada without its intended cargo, but I can confirm that those goods have arrived in Canada. During the same 48-hour period, four other federal planes landed in Canada with cargo. Over 10 planes from China have returned to Canada with supplies overall.
It is important to note that in this procurement process the federal government is not the only party at the table procuring supplies for this country. Provinces and territories, as well as health care centres themselves, are securing supplies on their own, and we are collaborating with them to make sure that they have the transportation to bring those shipments home.
[Translation]
Once shipments arrive in Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada inspects and validates all supplies for quality. The same is true for the supplies we produce across Canada.
[English]
We have had some quality issues with supplies that have not met the standards set by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Quality issues, while unwelcome, should not be unexpected given the surge in global demand for these goods. While we are buying at a faster pace, our priority remains making sure that we get safe, effective supplies to health care providers. After our orders pass inspection, only then does the Public Health Agency turn their focus to getting supplies to where they are needed across the country.
To help us with domestic distribution, we have contracted with Amazon Canada, one of the companies that answered our call to action. Let me be clear about their role. Amazon is currently providing use of their online business platform to help manage the inventory and allow provinces and territories to directly order supplies.
Canada Post and Purolator, which are both business partners of Amazon Canada, will handle all warehousing and delivery. This is all at cost without profit. This agreement is important to ensuring that masks, gloves and other vital equipment are provided to front-line health care workers as quickly as possible.
This is truly a team Canada approach with all hands on deck, and we are making steady progress. Things like surgical and N95 masks are now being delivered and distributed to provinces and territories. On ventilators, deliveries will be rolling out as early as next week. The Public Health Agency has already deployed 400 ventilators to the provinces and territories from the national emergency stockpile.
When it comes to testing, we have contacts in place for rapid test kits. We will continue to seek out and purchase swabs and reagent required for conventional testing. Reagent is in short supply around the world, and I'm pleased to say that under very difficult conditions, we brought a shipment of the important base chemical back to Canada. LuminUltra, a company in New Brunswick, is now producing reagent with that chemical.
I want to convey to you as a committee that we are taking new steps to be more transparent and to keep Canadians up to date with our work. We are launching an online report today detailing the progress that we are making on procuring key COVID-19 supplies.
Through all of this, my department continues to deliver its most critical services, such as processing payments through the Receiver General and maintaining federal buildings and infrastructure, but our most important task right now is the urgent procurement of vital supplies in the fight against COVID-19. We have significantly shifted our internal resources towards that effort.
I would like to personally thank everyone at PSPC who is keeping our business going, especially those who are helping to meet Canada's medical supply need in a difficult and challenging time.
We are making real progress, but we must continue to be vigilant. We must be realistic, and we must recognize that these are unprecedented and unpredictable times with unpredictable markets.
I want Canadians to know that we will continue to do whatever it takes to get supplies into the hands of those who need them most as quickly as possible.
[Translation]
Thank you very much.
[English]
I'm very happy to take your questions.
:
Thank you so much for the question.
The first effort we made to make sure we had the ability to reach a broad range of suppliers was to put a call out to suppliers on the Buyandsell.gc.ca website. As I mentioned, we have received over 26,000 responses from suppliers domestically and internationally.
Your question related to the domestic industry. I, like you and probably every member of Parliament around the table, have heard from people who would like to step up. This is characteristic of the approach we are seeing from the Buyandsell.gc.ca website. I want to commend Canadian industry and businesses alike for stepping up in this way. What we are doing after we receive the supply offer is contacting each of these people, which we've done. Then we go ahead and make contracts with some of them.
In addition to PSPC's efforts, ISED is leading the plan to mobilize industry to fight COVID-19. As much as possible, we are trying to secure supplies from Canadian manufacturers so that we can get them into the hands of front-line health care workers as soon as possible. Some key examples are companies like Bauer for face shields, Stanfield's for medical gowns, Irving Oil for hand sanitizer, Medicom for masks, Spartan for test kits, Thornhill Medical for ventilators, and the list goes on as you can see.
We are seeking to ensure the we have multiple supply chains operating at the same time. That means we want to make sure we have domestic sources of supplies as well as international sources of supplies, so that we have supply chains operating in tandem, which is a way of not putting all our eggs in one basket, if you will. It's very important to have complementary supply chains and that's the importance of building up domestic capabilities.
:
I'm going to take that question in two parts: the first relating to on-the-ground operations in China, and the second relating to quality control.
The very first point that we have to remember, and we cannot stress this enough, is that it's a highly competitive global environment and international logistics are challenging. We are working very closely with our embassy in China, as well as with on-the-ground logistics experts in the private sector to get supplies into the hands of health care workers on the front lines of the crisis.
This means that from the point of contracting to the point of arrival in Canada, we have a multi-stage process in place. Our Ambassador Barton in China and I are in almost daily contact about the situation in China, and in addition to private firms in China, assists us with getting the goods to the warehouse and then through the bureaucratic channels and on the planes and over to Canada.
We are ensuring we have a diversified source of supply. When I talk about diversity, I mean diversity of country, of manufacturer, of goods, of suppliers, and ultimately of air carriers.
As for the flights that have arrived in Canada, over 10 flights now have arrived from China. The goods have been successfully warehoused and are getting out to Canadian health care workers.
The second part of your question related to quality control. Without question, quality control is a concern for us. That's why we have quality control occurring in China as well as on the ground in Canada.
Once the goods get to Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada has testing measures in place. They're in place for the very purpose of ensuring quality control of essential products so that the equipment that is sent out is safe for our health care workers.
We do hold back some supplies that don't meet the medical testing standards. At PSPC, we're constantly adjusting our procurement approach to mitigate this issue at the outset. This is a key reason we're continuing to diversify our supplier base so that we're not drawing on one supplier only.
Our commitment overall is to supply a good product to front-line health care workers.
:
Thank you for the question.
I have a couple of comments. Yes, as the member mentioned, I have some friends with me, and I'll be happy to turn to them should I need some help.
The Public Health Agency, like other departments, is a client of PSPC, so when it places orders we do our best to fill them and we talk about schedules and need. What's unique about the current circumstance is that in normal times provinces, territories and others, hospitals, health authorities, etc., would do their own ordering. Because of the crisis, there is a role here for the federal government at the health tables with the provincial and territorial governments. There's been some collaboration through the health departments to put collaborative orders in place. There's ongoing dialogue between the Public Health Agency, the Department of Health in Canada and its provincial and territorial counterparts to assess orders, assess needs and then give PSPC, effectively, large orders to place. Those large orders are very important in terms of getting the attention of potential suppliers in a very competitive market, as was highlighted earlier. That's the interplay.
The ongoing needs of the provinces and territories are absolutely done through the health tables. That's an important dialogue there, and then our intersection is with the Public Health Agency and Health Canada.
The table you're referring to, which the minister referred to, is one where she has a regular check-in with her ministerial colleagues, which is a combination of.... In some cases provinces have put health ministers forward as their representatives, and in other cases it's more an equivalent to the minister of PSPC, just to have an ongoing dialogue about common issues, what we can do better, where the gaps are and to help fill that in, but there are, as the member suggested, many conversations that go on among federal and provincial counterparts. The most important ones, I would say, are at the health tables, which talk about the need, forecasts and any potential shortages.
I do not see any other hands raised indicating a wish to participate, so in that case I'll make my ruling now.
Mr. Green, I'm going to have to find that your motion is inadmissible, but I do want to give you the rationale.
Number one, the House order that was adopted on April 11 was quite specific, in my view. It stated that the purpose of this meeting and subsequent meetings is only to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's response to it.
Additionally, it said that the role of the committee is to receive evidence. There was some discussion about the motion passed on March 24 that talked about a reduced quorum, and because of that reduced quorum, it had some restrictions on motions being presented at committee.
Some have argued now that we are back with a full quorum and having video conferences, the reduced quorum restrictions should be removed. However, the order of April 11 was quite specific stating that the exception to the normal practice of committees being able to introduce motions is now in effect on these committees. As a consequence, the only motions that may be accepted are motions pertaining to the scheduling and appearance of witnesses and the testimony that they may provide.
As much as I have great empathy for your motion, Mr. Green, and agree with Mr. McCauley that it would be wonderful for all of us to receive as much information as possible during this difficult time, we are constrained—and I, as Chair, am particularly constrained—by the terms of the motion that was passed. They being quite specific, unfortunately, Mr. Green, I have to rule your motion as inadmissible.