Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued the following statement:

 “Last spring, when it was clear that vaccines would be the key tool to turn the page in the crisis, Justin Trudeau dropped the ball completely. 

“He turned to China, of all countries, to partner with on the making of a vaccine. It was the worst in a series of bad decisions and it is why we are lagging the developed world today.

 “We’re still scrambling to catch up. It’s a national disgrace, especially in a country as strong and prosperous as Canada. 

“It all belongs to the past. What matters is the future. What matters is that this never, ever happens again. 

“Last month, Canada marked a National Day of Observance for those lost to this pandemic, but to truly honour their memory, we must pledge to learn from the mistakes made and improve our resilience and readiness as a country. 

“Our attention should be on getting the country back on its feet. 

“But when the pandemic is over, we need answers, we need to know what worked and what didn’t. We need complete transparency and accountability. 

“A Conservative government will call a public inquiry to examine every aspect of the government’s pandemic response. We also call on the government to appoint a special monitor from the Office of the Auditor General to track the pandemic response in real time to ensure that valuable ‘lessons learned’ are captured for future emergency readiness. 

“The inquiry will ensure that all lessons learned from the crisis are publicly aired and learnings can immediately be adopted. Canada must be better prepared for future threats. We cannot afford to once again fail to keep Canadians safe. 

“To secure the future, we must learn from the past.”