Senator Seidman: I will say we’re terrible at data collection and a whole lot of other areas.

Senator Seidman: I would say that probably there are observations that could be appended. I would suggest that perhaps one of the most important amendments we could make has to do with the accountability issue. Given the fact that very little data is posted on the government’s website and some of the data is as long ago as December, I would think that the minister should report, and it should be in the bill so that we’re certain of reporting as opposed to just his word given in the other place.

I would like to see perhaps an amendment that builds in accountability and reporting so that we have more information about how the tests are distributed and exactly what the distribution process has been.

I will say, Senator Lankin, that one of the biggest issues has been the lack of coherent and consistent reporting from the provinces to the federal government, which inhibits our ability to understand whether these tests actually arrive at point-of-care services.

My concern still would be in terms of accountability. The rest of the issues can probably be dealt with in observations.

Senator Seidman: That’s a really good question because it’s an age-old issue in terms of data collection and different provincial and federal jurisdictions. So it’s challenging. There is no question. We all know that in so many ways we don’t get consistent data from the provinces to the federal government. That’s the problem they have, and I empathize with them on that score.

However in this case, I think, the federal government can be better at their data collection and transparency on their website. It was very evident that a lot of the data hadn’t been updated since December, and that makes it very challenging to get a better idea of equitable distribution in the provinces, for example.

I think it’s interesting to note that the U.S. government has decided to take responsibility for ensuring that these rapid test kits are distributed to all the citizens in the country. All you have to do is go on the U.S. national health website and order your kits, and they’re delivered by the postal service.

That’s another approach to accountability.

[Translation]