Documents reveal glimpse into Canada’s early COVID-19 plans

OTTAWA -- Early on in 2020, the message from the federal government was that the coronavirus risk here was low, but the rapidly-spreading disease eventually reached Canadian soil, setting off a cascade of ever-evolving policies, from the advice given based on the virus’ ability to spread, to measures needed at the border and the need to inventory medical supplies, internal documents show. In early January, the government went from saying the novel virus was being “actively monitored” with no confirmed cases in Canada. By mid-March, the government had repatriated citizens, assessed the national stockpile of supplies, and was having to update public health advice with the suggestion that up to 70 per cent of the country could contract the disease. These evolutions in policy, reacting to the evolving understanding of the neverbefore-documented virus are documented in part, through hundreds of pages of departmentally-redacted documents obtained by CTVNews.ca. The documents offer a glimpse into some of the early-stage federal conversations and policy decisions made in the months after the novel coronavirus was identified and labelled COVID-19. Across the documents one of the most oft-repeated statements was: “This is an evolving situation.” Some examples of just how fluid the situation was include: Initially considering sending the tonnes of supplies headed to China on one of the chartered flights repatriating Canadians; stating that the virus wasn’t thought to be easily spread without prolonged close contact; and indicating the suggestion of closing the border international passengers wasn’t necessary. This information is contained in documents provided to the House of Commons Health Committee on March 15. The more than 1,000 pages were provided in response to a production order passed by the committee in late February requesting “all documents, including briefing notes, memos and emails from senior officials, prepared for the Minister of Health, Minister of Transport, Minister of Public Safety, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of National Defence regarding the outbreak of the coronavirus.” While the committee has yet to publish the documents, they are considered public and are some of the first documents produced about the federal government’s COVID-19 response, given the federal Access to Information system has largely been halted. In the weeks of policymaking that have gone on since these documents were turned over to the committee, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to rapidly evolve, rendering much of the information within these pages dated, though they are an indication of the cross-government collaboration occurring in the early stages of the outbreak. During his daily address on April 7, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that as the situation evolves, so too will their approach, adding that “they’ve done that from the beginning.” “This is a never-before-experienced pandemic that is presenting new challenges every single day. New facts, new data every single day, and throughout we’re making decisions based on the best advice,” he said.