All eyes on pandemic leadership, recovery

OTTAWA — Procurement Minister Anita Anand is loathe to talk much about the low points of Canada's vaccine procurement campaign last winter.

Those days when Pfizer and Moderna were calling to say Canada's shipments of vaccines were delayed or not coming at all. The weeks when vaccine rates in Israel, the United Kingdom or the United States were soaring and Canadians were wondering why they were being left behind.

But the 54-year-old former law professor will pause to acknowledge that with Canada now one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, things are a lot less tense around her office.

"My days are still very busy, because we have not finished our vaccine procurements as of yet, but I can say that I am sleeping better at night because of the strides we have made in procurement," Anand said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

She said she is eager to show voters what those strides were, from overcoming the global supply crunch on personal protective equipment, to securing millions of rapid tests, and now being among the most vaccinated countries in the world.

"When you ask me whether I'm prepared to defend that record, yes, I am.," Anand said, her voice steely.

But the Conservatives and the NDP will be telling voters that Canada was slow to acknowledge the threat COVID-19 posed, was not prepared with the personal protective equipment needed and was months slower than many other countries to get vaccines in the door.

Charles Bird, the managing principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group in Toronto and a former provincial Liberal campaign director in Ontario, said there is no doubt that the pandemic is going to be top of mind for voters "for the simple reason that it's not over."

But Bird and other political strategists say for all parties the key factor in winning the pandemic vote will be where we go from here, rather than what they did so far.

There are already signs of where the two biggest parties will differ on this front.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, with his mantra "build back better" is focusing on rebuilding an economy paying particular attention to those hurt most by the pandemic's economic downturn.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole is pushing what he calls "Canada's Recovery Plan," which includes policies to expand broadband coverage and tax credits to make Canada innovative again. He would scrap Trudeau's child-care deals favour of a refundable tax credit of between $4,500 and $6,000 per child, aiming to cover up to 75 per cent of child-care costs for low-income families.

Both are arguing about who will do more to restore the life sciences industry, decimated by previous federal governments.