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A Public Health Agency (PHAC) internal report admits executives were unprepared and poorly trained for the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 60,871 Canadians. This admission follows the Agency awarding pandemic hero medallions to all managers and employees for their relief efforts three years prior.

“... the Agency is better prepared to respond to public health events than it was five years ago,” wrote auditors. “Plans and procedures have been updated.” 

Early COVID-19 response was hampered by insufficient public health emergency management training, even at senior levels. Significant improvements have since been made, reported Blacklock’s.

The Public Health Agency of Canada, established in 2004 for pandemic preparedness, recently faced criticism for failing an internal audit on workplace first aid kits, a Canada Labour Code requirement. This follows previous criticism for lacking emergency supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Despite a 2006 Pandemic Influenza Plan declaring a future pandemic "inevitable," a 2024 report admitted PHAC "was not as prepared as it could have been" for storing medical supplies due to "unaddressed problems." 

The Agency also landfilled millions of pre-pandemic medical supplies to save $900,000 annually and ignored 2011 warnings to stockpile, contributing to subsequent lockdowns and $576 billion in emergency spending.

A prior audit confirmed the Agency's "confusion," "limited public health expertise," and "capacity gaps." Auditors noted disorganized management, with most employees sent home initially, and a lack of "needed breadth and expertise to lead."

The Agency saw three presidents in 13 months, including Iain Stewart, a $321,000-a-year executive. Stewart was censured by the House of Commons for refusing to release records on the firing of Chinese scientists after an RCMP raid at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

The first Evaluation report since 2022 revealed the Agency awarded 5,000 "special Covid-19 themed design coin in a velvet presentation box" medallions to all managers and employees for their "commitments towards pandemic relief efforts."

In 2021, at the pandemic's peak, the Agency paid $1,453,000 in bonuses, averaging $18,600 each, to 78 executives and senior employees. Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, who requested the records, called them "very expensive participation ribbons."

In early 2024, preliminary details emerged about a Liberal government-appointed expert panel formed to review its pandemic response.

Audits revealed "limited public health expertise" and rapid turnover, with four presidents in 28 months, some signing a secret pandemic preparedness oath, according to Blacklock's.

Major health organizations criticized Canada's response, and despite over 20 internal audits in 2023 revealing "critical weaknesses," the health department has refused to release most of them.

PHAC earlier claimed that without lockdowns or health mandates, "20 times more Canadians" would have died in the COVID-19 pandemic than in World War Two. 

According to federal data, 60,871 Canadians died during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, 44,000 Canadians died in WWII, while the 1919 Spanish Flu epidemic killed 50,000.