Leadership matters – especially in a crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic made that painfully clear.
Canada continues to resist independent public inquiries into the pandemic, leaving us vulnerable to historical revisionism and science-free narratives. We’re seeing a disturbing trend: debates focused on whether “masks,” “vaccines” or “lockdowns” worked – while more pressing questions go unanswered. This pandemic revisionism is also reimagining leaders’ performance and attributes.
With the Public Health Agency of Canada now searching for a new Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO), it’s critical to assess the qualities we need in a leader.
British Columbia offers a cautionary tale on the importance of public health officers in establishing leadership and public trust.
Precaution has long been a bedrock of public health: when lives are at stake, delay for scientific certainty costs lives. This principle was reaffirmed by the Krever Commission after Canada’s tainted blood tragedy, and again by the Ontario SARS Commission, which emphasized protecting health workers from airborne viruses.
As Toronto’s former Associate Medical Officer of Health and SARS response lead, Bonnie Henry was positioned to understand the airborne dangers. Yet, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Henry, as B.C.’s Public Health Officer (PHO), dismissed airborne precautions – downplaying respirator use, HEPA filtration and improved ventilation, even in high-risk settings.
In 2020, despite mounting evidence and an open letter from 239 scientists urging recognition of airborne transmission, Henry called the controversy a “tempest in a teapot.” By contrast, The Lancet COVID-19 Commission identified the failure to acknowledge airborne spread as a major public health error.
Experts have sharply criticized B.C.’s public health leadership for clinging to outdated views.
Experts have sharply criticized B.C.’s public health leadership for clinging to outdated views. Even after the WHO formally acknowledged aerosol spread in 2022, B.C.’s Ministry of Health continues to deny it.
Without trust, guidance is ignored – on masks, vaccines or anything else.
From the outset, B.C.’s PHO repeatedly downplayed school transmission risks. An October 2022 joint investigation revealed these claims weren’t supported by data. Internal emails described “daunting” school case numbers, yet the Health Ministry maintained children were being infected “in the community.” But schools are part of the community.
Ironically, a seroprevalence study co-authored by Henry found most B.C. children were infected between fall 2021 and spring 2022 – when schools were in session and vaccines weren’t yet available for those under five. Children were the least vaccinated and most infected group.
Rather than prioritize clean air or infection prevention, B.C.’s public health messaging leaned into “hybrid immunity” – get vaccinated, get infected, get boosted and become “super immune.” This strategy, unthinkable in pre-pandemic public health, mirrored anti-vaccine rhetoric more than science.
The outcome? Far from becoming “super immune,” repeated COVID infections are now known to weaken the immune system, raise risk for other infections and new illnesses, damage organs, and increase the likelihood of Long COVID.
On June 20, 2020, Canada’s Chief PHO and all provincial officers received a letter from 52 Canadians suffering persistent COVID symptoms, pleading for recognition and help.
In response, Mona Nemer, Canada’s Chief Science Advisor, circulated the latest research and, in July 2022, launched a Long COVID Task Force to raise awareness and inform policy.
Yet in April 2023, the B.C. Legislative Assembly’s librarian was asked how many times Henry mentioned Long COVID during public briefings – excluding journalists’ questions. The answer? Not once.
This isn’t what Canadians should expect from a future Chief Public Health Officer.
We need someone who learns from the past, applies the precautionary principle, engages with evolving science from multiple disciplines, and earns public trust by speaking hard truths. “Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe” sounds soothing; without actions they’re just empty words.
What Canadians need now is someone in charge who takes timely actions that truly protect us all now and when the next pandemic strikes.
A version of this article first appeared in Canada Healthwatch.
