"... what exactly you are doing about each of the recommendations?"

October 24, 2024 6:05 AM

On the Thursday evening before the Thanksgiving holiday long weekend, the Review of the Federal Approach to Pandemic Science Advice and Research Coordination, calling for fundamental changes in how Canada handles medical information and manages public health in a crisis, was released without fanfare.

Though delayed since at least May and published without a press release, news conference or announcement of any kind, Paul Wells provides a summary, including commentary from David Naylor. The full PDF is here.

posted by mhoye (5 comments total)

This is a great report and I hope Paul Wells et al can raise enough stink to get some attention on it. I'm struck by just how dead our media landscape is that this is released without much fanfare.

The TLDR as I read it from Wells that I think applies to all countries;

- We need to invest in prevention, surveillance and clinical trials now and forever to be ready for the next pandemic. And we aren't. We are quickly returning to pre-2020 levels and we will all be shocked! and appalled! when this happens again.

Oh also, the poor, people of colour and Indigenous people will always be disproportionately effected by a pandemic. But how do we make people care and act on it?
posted by dogbusonline at 6:27 AM on October 24 [3 favorites]

It really feels like there needs to be a regulation that investigative reports must be made public at least 3 days before a weekend or holiday.
posted by trig at 7:36 AM on October 24 [5 favorites]

The media in Canada are overwhelmingly pro-Conservative, the report makes recommendations that contradict the policies of the anti-vax, anti-science Conservative Party, ergo no media coverage.
posted by jewel-jerk-dazzle at 8:07 AM on October 24 [5 favorites]

Thanks for this. I've just written a long email to both my premier (Tim Houston) and MP (Darren Fisher) which I expect them to ignore, but perhaps might help so I have to try...
posted by joannemerriam at 8:42 AM on October 24 [2 favorites]

Sure enough, neither of them has responded yet.
posted by joannemerriam at 12:48 PM on October 30 [1 favorite]