Hillier’s contract to lead vaccine task force ends

The repetitious routine that has become the pandemic norm gives one the false sense that society has been put on hold. However one need only contrast where we were just four months ago to get a sense of how quickly the public sentiment can change.

In late November 2020, after more than eight months of lockdowns, masks and social distancing, we were given the uplifting news that a vaccine had finally been developed to counter COVID19. A light was now visible at the end of a heretofore dark tunnel.

Attention was then turned to the massive challenge of actually distributing and administering the millions of vaccine doses once they became available.

In the U.S., then-president Donald Trump announced that Gen. Gustave Perna would be in charge of Operation Warp Speed, which would entail the U.S. military assisting with the logistics of vaccine distribution.

Canada followed suit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau naming Maj.-gen. Dany Fortin to head the national operation centre for national vaccine distribution. Fortin works through the Public Health Agency of Canada with support from the Canadian Armed Forces.

At that juncture, general officers enjoyed an almost mythical reputation and public adoration: Every province soon wanted one for their own vaccine task force.

In Alberta, they were fortunate to have recently retired lieutenant-general Paul Wynnk on staff as a senior provincial bureaucrat.

In Ontario — Canada's largest province and therefore facing the steepest distribution challenge — Premier Doug Ford appointed former chief of defence staff, general Rick Hillier, to head up the vaccine roll out.

“Rolling out and distributing this vaccine, it will be a massive logistical challenge,” said Ford. “Without the right planning it risks becoming a logistical nightmare . ... We need the discipline that only a general can bring to the task.”

Hillier, the charismatic former top soldier was confident in his ability to get the job done.

“The military gives you incredible experiences and leadership in putting those ‘big muscle' movements together,” Hillier told reporters at the time, adding, “It's all about the fact that I want to do my duty and serve the people of Ontario as best I can.”

While caught up in his patriotic fervour, Hillier also invoked the memory of the Canadian warrior spirit that carried the day on the First World War battlefield of Vimy Ridge in 1917 and on the beaches of Normandy in 1944.

This no doubt puzzled the average Ontario citizen who simply wanted to know when they could expect to get their COVID-19 shot, and instead got a Canadian military history lesson.

As events have developed, the nationwide rollout has been anything but a clear victory, and Ontario in particular has received one of the worst provincial rankings.

According to a recent assessment by Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of Vancouver's Infectious Disease Centre, Hillier's task force did not get a top grade.

“Ontario's really had a scattered approach, and it's an approach that's been marred by a changing overall strategy at the central level but then also trying to deploy things at the level of 34 different public health units,” Conway told Global News.

It was also noted that the distribution to date has not been even across the province and that the real test has yet to begin as the vaccines are only now starting to become available in large quantities.

Premier Ford insists that Hillier has done a great job, but the Ontario government did not extend the former general's $20,000-a-month contract beyond the original end date of March 31.

Hillier has since left the post, and has boastfully declared his mission accomplished. At a March 23 keynote speech to the Canadian Construction Association, Hillier recounted his success.

“I used every leadership tool and lever I had to pull together the disparate pieces of the Ontario health-care system to bring it into one coherent operation for Ontario's vaccine program,” Hillier told the audience. He went on to explain that a leader's actions, words and values must align. “If any of these is off sync you lose credibility instantly. And it's only a matter of time before they find some other leader ... ” said Hillier prophetically.

Dr. Homer Tien is now the head of Ontario's Vaccine Task Force.