Top doctors and scientists have taken to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) to call on Canada to launch an inquiry into “major pandemic failures.”
At the centre of the call is a biting critique of the country’s fragmented public healthcare system and a full accounting of how Canada handled Covid-19 is needed to determine its weak points.
“We wouldn’t know because no pandemic inquiry has been established by (the) federal government. This is a mistake,” wrote the experts.
BMJ international editor and Canadian public health expert Jocalyn Clark told CBC News that she hopes the government doesn’t cover up how it handled the crisis.
“If this global catastrophe doesn’t cause the need for a deep examination… I don’t know what will,” said Clark.
“I hope the authorities don’t just sweep it under the carpet,” she continued.
“What we need is something at the federal level that’s properly legislated and governed… so that we’re doing a full comprehensive public inquiry that looks at the full pandemic response.”
Scientists in the BMJ argued that Canada’s decision making at top levels was marked with inconsistencies, as well a crises in long-term care housing.
“The picture that emerges is an ill prepared country with outdated data systems, poor coordination and cohesion, and blindness about its citizens’ diverse needs. What saved Canada was a largely willing and conforming populace that withstood stringent public health measures and achieved among the world’s highest levels of vaccination coverage,” wrote the BMJ.
“In other words, Canadians delivered on the pandemic response while its governments faltered.”
Senior care centres were particularly hardest hit, despite advanced warnings for decision makers.
“A particular disgrace is Canada being at the top of wealthy nations for [COVID-related] deaths in care homes for older people, despite more than 100 reports foreshadowing a nursing home crisis,” argued scientists.
In a statement to the CBC, the office of Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told the outlet that he was “committed to a review of the response to COVID-19 in order to take stock of lessons learned and to better inform preparations and responses to future health emergencies.”
Despite that, the Liberal government has yet to announce a full public inquiry into their handling of Covid-19. Although no inquiry has been held at the federal level, an independent National Citizens’ Inquiry was held earlier this year featuring experts in the field.
