Health minister underscored Canada's pandemic response, international flight bans too late: survey

Canadians fault the federal government for waiting too long to ban international flights as a pandemic precaution, according to in-house federal research.

"In terms of what the federal government got wrong, many felt the government should have closed the borders sooner than it did," said a finance department report. "Many also felt any sort of travel in and out of the country should have been more limited." Canada did not restrict air traffic until ten weeks after the first COVID-19 death was reported in Wuhan.

The first COVID-19 death in China was publicly reported on January 11, 2020. Taiwan restricted travel from China on January 26 followed by the United States on January 31. Australia followed suit on February 1 and South Korea on February 24.

The Public Health Agency at the time in a February 10, 2020 memo to Health Minister Patricia Hajdu cautioned against sending any "signal to Canadians that the government believes the risk within Canada is changing and other measures are necessary," wrote staff, according to Blacklocks. "It will be important to underscore that this is not the case."

The agency, as late as January 29, 2020, maintained it was safe for Canadians to travel to China. Records show 1,796 travellers from Wuhan arrived in Canada over the period.

"Do you recommend travellers wear masks while visiting China or quarantine-blocked cities within the country such as Wuhan? No," said a January 29 agency briefing note. "It is not recommended that healthy travellers wear masks while visiting China or quarantine-blocked cities within the country."

Minister Hajdu’s notes for a February 12, 2020 teleconference warned against raising public alarm. "We remain concerned about social anxiety, misinformation and discrimination in the Chinese-Canadian community with the coronavirus," wrote staff.

A finance department opinion survey found Canadians were critical of the slow introduction of travel bans from infected areas. "One of the more common concerns that participants raised with the government’s performance during the pandemic pertained to its management of international travel and borders," said the survey Qualitative Research On The State Of The Economy.

"Many felt the government should have closed the borders sooner than it did," wrote researchers. "Many also felt any sort of travel in and out of the country should have been more limited." Findings were based on ten focus groups nationwide. The department paid Quorus Consulting Group Inc. a total of $59,775 for the survey in the first week of February.

As late as March 9, 2020, the health minister was given Question Period notes claiming a pandemic outbreak in Canada was unlikely. "The risk of spread of this virus within Canada continues to remain low at this time," wrote the Agency: "We continue to believe that Canada’s public health system is well equipped to contain cases coming from abroad, limiting the spread in Canada."

A global pandemic was declared on March 11. Cabinet invoked the Quarantine Act on March 26. Cabinet did not issue its first mandatory mask order until April 20 when it allowed airlines to deny boarding to any passenger without a face covering.

"As disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic has been for nearly one full year, it remains central to the lives of Canadians and plays a significant role in how they view the federal government and the role it should be playing in the short and medium-term," said the report.