Ottawa was told about potential problems at Public Health Agency, top doctors say
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/OD3DZUCJBJPWTCJVU375QPL6RI.jpg)
People are shown at a COVID-19 testing clinic Montreal, Oct. 11, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world.
Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The federal government was warned years ago that the Public Health Agency of Canada was destined for serious problems unless changes were made to its oversight, but those concerns were ignored, two of Canada’s top doctors say.
A steady erosion of scientific capacity and a chronic shortage of resources over the past decade have left the agency unable to do its job properly, public-health experts Perry Kendall and Paul Gully told The Globe and Mail.
Recent problems, including the mishandling of the country’s pandemic early warning system, emergency stockpile shortages and allegations that scientists were forced to “dumb down” reports for senior government officials, are all symptoms of a larger ailment afflicting the agency, the doctors said.
“We are