Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates
Securing Personal Protective Equipment and Medical Devices
(Report 10—2021 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada)
7 June 2021
Karen Hogan, Chartered Professional AccountantCPA, Chartered AccountantCA
Auditor General of Canada
Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our audit report on securing personal protective equipment and medical devices during the COVID‑19 pandemic. The report was tabled in the House of Commons on May 26. I am accompanied by Jean Goulet, who was the principal responsible for the audit, and Milan Duvnjak, who was the director for the audit.
The audit focused on whether the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic, helped to meet the needs of provincial and territorial governments for selected personal protective equipment, such as N95 masks and medical gowns, and medical devices, such as testing swabs and ventilators. The audit also focused on whether Public Services and Procurement Canada provided adequate procurement support to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The audit showed that there were issues in planning and stockpile management before the pandemic. For example, we found that the Public Health Agency of Canada had not addressed long-standing and known issues with the systems and practices used to manage and operate the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile.
The agency knew of these issues because they had been raised in audits and reviews going back more than a decade. As a result, the Public Health Agency of Canada was not as prepared as it should have been to deal with the surge in requests for equipment from the provinces and territories triggered by the COVID‑19 pandemic. For example, from February to August 2020, the agency could deliver only 4% of N95 masks and only 12% of medical gowns requested by provinces and territories.
The audit also showed agility and responsiveness. Overall, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada helped address the needs of provincial and territorial governments for personal protective equipment and medical devices. Faced with a crisis, these organizations worked around their outstanding issues with the management and oversight of the emergency equipment stockpiles and adapted their activities.
For example, during the pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada improved how it assessed needs and allocated equipment to help meet the demand for personal protective equipment and medical devices from the provinces and territories. It also outsourced much of the warehousing and logistical support needed to deal with the exceptional volume of purchased equipment.
Similarly, Health Canada reacted to the increased demand created by the pandemic by modifying its management of licence applications from suppliers for personal protective equipment and medical devices. Public Services and Procurement Canada also made adjustments by accepting some risks to facilitate the quick purchase of large quantities of equipment in a highly competitive market where supply was not always keeping pace with demand. If the departments had not adapted their approaches to the circumstances, it is likely that the government would not have been able to acquire the volume of equipment that was needed.
Our recent audits of the government’s pandemic response continue to show that when the people who make up the federal public service are faced with a crisis, they are able to rally and focus on serving the needs of Canadians.
However, these audits also show that issues forgotten or left unaddressed have a way of coming back, typically at the worst possible time. Canada was not as well prepared to face the pandemic as it might have been had the stockpile of emergency equipment been better managed. If there is one overall lesson to learn from this pandemic, it is that government departments need to take action to resolve long-standing issues and to see the value in being better prepared for a rainy day.
We made recommendations to the audited organizations and they agreed with all of them.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. We are now pleased to answer questions. Thank you.