Tam refuses to appear before Ethics committee, Duclos to testify on Thursday

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, has declined an invitation to speak with the House of Commons Ethics committee about a Request for Proposal (RFP) the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) issued regarding tracking of mobility statistics. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos accepted the invitation and will address the Parliamentarians on Thursday. In mid-January MPs unanimously voted to call both officials before the committee. The RFP called for tenders for software that would track Canadians’ movements during the pandemic. Committee member John Brassard got the ball rolling with a letter demanding an investigation into the tracking of cellphone data. “It raises numerous red flags that PHAC essentially tracked Canadians and collected their mobile data without clearly communicating this to Canadians,” he wrote in the letter. “Using the pandemic as an excuse to violate the privacy of Canadians is never okay. It’s even worse when a government or government body does it in secret.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the launching of a COVID tracing app back in June 2020. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) gave approval for cellphone surveillance back in July 2020, after belated consultations by PHAC were initiated. At the time, the OPC warned that the country’s privacy laws need to be updated. However, this RFP was only issued last December. It is uncertain whether PHAC approached the OPC when the request for proposal was under consideration last year. There were denunciations of Tam’s refusal to appear. “I am concerned that Dr. Tam turned down our request,” NDP member Matthew Green said in Monday’s meeting. “I can appreciate that her schedule is tight but to refuse is a problem. She refused to come before the committee. I hope that’s not going to become a pattern.” “I am extremely disappointed Dr. Tam is not coming,” Conservative MP Brassard stated. “I think there’s only one person who can answer our questions.” Monday’s meeting was a procedural session, tidying up loose ends from the Jan. 13 meeting. Duclos’ Parliamentary Secretary Adam van Koeverden, who is not a member of the committee, submitted information on the use of mobility data 45 minutes before the sitting started. That upset some opposition MPs. “I’m not going to take the government’s word for it,” Brassard told the committee. “I’m not going to take the Minister of Health’s word for it.” Fellow Tory Damien Kurek agreed. “There are far more questions I have today than I did one hour before this meeting,” he said. He suggested government MPs who tried to pass the use of data off as benign speak with their constituents to get a better sense of how Canadians feel about PHAC tracking their movements. Liberal member Greg Fergus moved a motion to have the committee report its findings back to the House of Commons by Apr. 16. It carried by a vote of 7-3, with only the Conservatives dissenting. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Tam refuses to appear before Ethics committee, Duclos to testify on Thursday

News | January 31, 2022

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Tam refuses to appear before Ethics committee, Duclos to testify on Thursday

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