Amanda Connolly
GLOBAL NEWS
26/5/2021
For more than 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Canadian public health officials knew there were problems with how the country managed its emergency medical stockpile – but failed to act.
© Provided by Global News A person wears PPE (personal protective equipment) while screening people for the COVID-19 virus in Kingston, Ontario on Wednesday, February 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg
In a new report issued Wednesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said that failure to fix the problems ahead of time meant Canada was not as prepared as it could have been for the surge in demand for precious personal protective equipment last year.
“The audit found that at the onset of the pandemic, PHAC lacked some of the systems and practices it needed to properly manage and operate the country’s stockpile of emergency equipment,” Hogan wrote in her report.
“The Agency had known for over a decade that these issues existed. As a result, it was not as prepared as it could have been to respond to the increased demand for personal protective equipment and medical devices that came from the provinces and territories.”
READ MORE: Canada’s efforts to buy pandemic PPE to be assessed by auditor general
But she said despite those challenges, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was able to act quickly once the pandemic hit and procure critical gear, such as N95 respirators, medical gowns, testing swabs and ventilators for the provinces and territories.
Hogan said what was key to the agency’s adaptation was quickly pivoting to a bulk-buy strategy and speeding up quality assurances while Health Canada streamlined its licensing application process. Crucial to that was the support from Public Services and Procurement Canada, which Hogan noted moved quickly to shift to bulk buying amid the global uncertainty.
“The department accepted some risks in order to procure large quantities of equipment in a market where the supply could not always meet demand,” she wrote of the procurement strategy.
“Otherwise, fewer pieces of equipment would have been available to provinces and territories.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland compared the global market for personal protective equipment to the “Wild West” in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hogan said the frenzy of that market made it hard to assess whether the government got value for money in its purchasing, adding the audit focused more on whether the government took the right steps to secure personal protective equipment within that situation.
She added that just because the government did manage to secure that critical gear does not mean that officials solved the underlying problems -- they simply worked around them.
“If you’re asking me today if they have addressed those longstanding issues, the answer is no," she said.
"There is the need now to deal with those issues post-pandemic.”
In a new report issued Wednesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said that failure to fix the problems ahead of time meant Canada was not as prepared as it could have been for the surge in demand for precious personal protective equipment last year.
“The audit found that at the onset of the pandemic, PHAC lacked some of the systems and practices it needed to properly manage and operate the country’s stockpile of emergency equipment,” Hogan wrote in her report.
“The Agency had known for over a decade that these issues existed. As a result, it was not as prepared as it could have been to respond to the increased demand for personal protective equipment and medical devices that came from the provinces and territories.”
READ MORE: Canada’s efforts to buy pandemic PPE to be assessed by auditor general
But she said despite those challenges, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was able to act quickly once the pandemic hit and procure critical gear, such as N95 respirators, medical gowns, testing swabs and ventilators for the provinces and territories.
Hogan said what was key to the agency’s adaptation was quickly pivoting to a bulk-buy strategy and speeding up quality assurances while Health Canada streamlined its licensing application process. Crucial to that was the support from Public Services and Procurement Canada, which Hogan noted moved quickly to shift to bulk buying amid the global uncertainty.
“The department accepted some risks in order to procure large quantities of equipment in a market where the supply could not always meet demand,” she wrote of the procurement strategy.
“Otherwise, fewer pieces of equipment would have been available to provinces and territories.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland compared the global market for personal protective equipment to the “Wild West” in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hogan said the frenzy of that market made it hard to assess whether the government got value for money in its purchasing, adding the audit focused more on whether the government took the right steps to secure personal protective equipment within that situation.
She added that just because the government did manage to secure that critical gear does not mean that officials solved the underlying problems -- they simply worked around them.
“If you’re asking me today if they have addressed those longstanding issues, the answer is no," she said.
"There is the need now to deal with those issues post-pandemic.”
Hajdu reacts to auditor general report on government's PPE preparedness before and during the pandemic
Duration: 01:33
Auditor finds national PPE stockpile unprepared for pandemic, despite warnings
Ryan Tumilty
Canada may find it challenging to reach herd immunity from COVID-19, experts say
Hogan found the stockpile had weak or non-existent systems for tracking inventory and expiry dates and made decisions on what to buy based on its budget, not on what might be needed. She said when doing the audit they couldn’t determine what was actually available when COVID hit, because the inventory was so weak.
“What we found is that the quality of the data was such that we couldn’t rely on what the agency estimated was the stock on hand.”
She said the government pivoted quickly to respond to the problem, but the whole point of a stockpile is to be prepared.
“You don’t wait for a rainy day to rush out and buy an umbrella. You take the time, you invest in the umbrella in your closet and that’s exactly what the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile should be.”
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said she welcomed the input from the auditor. Asked directly when she realized Canada didn’t have sufficient reserve supplies of PPE Hajdu didn’t answer, but said the problem went beyond just the supplies.
“It really wasn’t just about the stock that was contained in the stockpile but it was about the processes that the national stockpile was using to support provinces and territories.”
Hajdu said the government has done a lot to address problems already, but work is underway to ensure the stockpile is rebuilt and ready for future emergencies.
“The planning work is really about how to ensure that we have a national stockpile, that will be responsive and flexible enough to be able to expand quickly, but also to have the right equipment.”
The audit also looked at the government’s purchase of PPE after the pandemic hit and found that it generally did well. Hogan found some areas where the government took on more risk than usual, but found that understandable in the pandemic.
“The department accepted some risks in order to procure large quantities of equipment in a market where the supply could not always meet demand. Otherwise, fewer pieces of equipment would have been available to provinces and territories.”
Ryan Tumilty
© Provided by National Post Auditor General Karen Hogan is seen during a news conference following the tabling of reports in Ottawa, Thursday March 25, 2021.
Canada’s National Emergency Strategic Stockpile was unprepared to deal with the pandemic due to “long-standing unaddressed problems” that had been known for more than a decade when COVID-19 hit, according to the auditor general.
In a report released Wednesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan reviewed the national stockpile and efforts to purchase personal protective equipment and found Canada was ill-prepared to respond to the pandemic.
“As a result of long-standing unaddressed problems with the systems and practices in place to manage the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile, the Public Health Agency of Canada was not as prepared as it could have been,” she wrote.
News reports have already documented how millions of masks were tossed in the trash before the pandemic and how the stockpile was unable to meet early demands from provinces and territories when COVID first emerged in spring of 2020.
Hogan’s report said the government rebounded well from the early part of the pandemic, but the stockpile issues were well known and had been left unaddressed for more than a decade.
“We found that the unaddressed federal stockpile issues had been brought to the agency’s attention through a series of internal audits dating back to at least 2010,” she said in her report.
Canada’s National Emergency Strategic Stockpile was unprepared to deal with the pandemic due to “long-standing unaddressed problems” that had been known for more than a decade when COVID-19 hit, according to the auditor general.
In a report released Wednesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan reviewed the national stockpile and efforts to purchase personal protective equipment and found Canada was ill-prepared to respond to the pandemic.
“As a result of long-standing unaddressed problems with the systems and practices in place to manage the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile, the Public Health Agency of Canada was not as prepared as it could have been,” she wrote.
News reports have already documented how millions of masks were tossed in the trash before the pandemic and how the stockpile was unable to meet early demands from provinces and territories when COVID first emerged in spring of 2020.
Hogan’s report said the government rebounded well from the early part of the pandemic, but the stockpile issues were well known and had been left unaddressed for more than a decade.
“We found that the unaddressed federal stockpile issues had been brought to the agency’s attention through a series of internal audits dating back to at least 2010,” she said in her report.
Canada may find it challenging to reach herd immunity from COVID-19, experts say
Hogan found the stockpile had weak or non-existent systems for tracking inventory and expiry dates and made decisions on what to buy based on its budget, not on what might be needed. She said when doing the audit they couldn’t determine what was actually available when COVID hit, because the inventory was so weak.
“What we found is that the quality of the data was such that we couldn’t rely on what the agency estimated was the stock on hand.”
She said the government pivoted quickly to respond to the problem, but the whole point of a stockpile is to be prepared.
“You don’t wait for a rainy day to rush out and buy an umbrella. You take the time, you invest in the umbrella in your closet and that’s exactly what the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile should be.”
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said she welcomed the input from the auditor. Asked directly when she realized Canada didn’t have sufficient reserve supplies of PPE Hajdu didn’t answer, but said the problem went beyond just the supplies.
“It really wasn’t just about the stock that was contained in the stockpile but it was about the processes that the national stockpile was using to support provinces and territories.”
Hajdu said the government has done a lot to address problems already, but work is underway to ensure the stockpile is rebuilt and ready for future emergencies.
“The planning work is really about how to ensure that we have a national stockpile, that will be responsive and flexible enough to be able to expand quickly, but also to have the right equipment.”
The audit also looked at the government’s purchase of PPE after the pandemic hit and found that it generally did well. Hogan found some areas where the government took on more risk than usual, but found that understandable in the pandemic.
“The department accepted some risks in order to procure large quantities of equipment in a market where the supply could not always meet demand. Otherwise, fewer pieces of equipment would have been available to provinces and territories.”
© Provided by National Post Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu.
Hogan said the department didn’t do enough to mitigate the risks it took on with advanced payments and speeding up procurement processes and should have done more, but she also acknowledged the difficult environment of buying PPE in a pandemic.
“We found that these risks were not offset by any planned mitigation strategy. As a result, while the department was able to speed up the procurement process, it could not always demonstrate that it exercised the needed oversight.”
The government launched a $81 million lawsuit recently against a Montreal firm, alleging it failed to deliver masks that met the government’s quality control standards.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner suggested the auditor’s report demonstrates the government moved too slowly purchasing PPE.
“The Trudeau Liberals waited 10 days after the WHO declared COVID-19 a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ before it announced that it would be bulk purchasing PPE,” she said in a statement.
The auditor however found no issue with the time it took for the government to begin bulk purchases for provinces and territories.
“The agency quickly moved to bulk purchasing to meet the unprecedented demand for PPE and medical devices, and it outsourced much of the warehousing and logistical support it needed.”
• Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com | Twitter: ryantumilty
Hogan said the department didn’t do enough to mitigate the risks it took on with advanced payments and speeding up procurement processes and should have done more, but she also acknowledged the difficult environment of buying PPE in a pandemic.
“We found that these risks were not offset by any planned mitigation strategy. As a result, while the department was able to speed up the procurement process, it could not always demonstrate that it exercised the needed oversight.”
The government launched a $81 million lawsuit recently against a Montreal firm, alleging it failed to deliver masks that met the government’s quality control standards.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner suggested the auditor’s report demonstrates the government moved too slowly purchasing PPE.
“The Trudeau Liberals waited 10 days after the WHO declared COVID-19 a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ before it announced that it would be bulk purchasing PPE,” she said in a statement.
The auditor however found no issue with the time it took for the government to begin bulk purchases for provinces and territories.
“The agency quickly moved to bulk purchasing to meet the unprecedented demand for PPE and medical devices, and it outsourced much of the warehousing and logistical support it needed.”
• Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com | Twitter: ryantumilty
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