The federal Liberals are creating a new agency to beef up Canada害羞草研究所檚 ability to handle rapidly spreading infectious diseases and protect from future pandemics.

Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne said the agency is meant to preserve the 害羞草研究所渢op-gun team害羞草研究所� of public servants that helped steer Canadians through COVID-19.

Health Emergency Readiness Canada is being tasked with boosting Canada害羞草研究所檚 life-sciences sector and ensuring Canadians get faster access to vaccines, medical therapies and diagnostics by accelerating the transition from research to commercialization.

害羞草研究所淭he danger would have been (that) if we don害羞草研究所檛 have a permanent agency sitting somewhere, that collective knowledge that we have accumulated during COVID would even be dispersed eventually, perhaps even lost within the civil service,害羞草研究所� Champagne told reporters on Tuesday.

害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e pulling them together in a team so that when people are talking about health, emergency readiness, they know where to knock.害羞草研究所�

The new agency will be based in the Industry Department but include staff from the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada. Champagne said it requires no new legislation and is based on spending Parliament already approved through this year害羞草研究所檚 budget.

害羞草研究所淲e want to keep a very close nexus with industry,害羞草研究所� Champagne said.

The agency will co-ordinate efforts between Canadian industry and academic researchers as well as with international partners.

This follows a similar move by the European Union to create an agency in 2021 that not only tries to prepare the continent for pandemics, but seeks to learn from mistakes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada was not adequately prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic with an outdated and understocked emergency stockpile, and a virtually non-existent vaccine production industry.

Last year, the British Medical Journal called out Canada害羞草研究所檚 害羞草研究所渕ajor pandemic failures害羞草研究所� such as jurisdictional wrangling and a high death rate in long-term care homes.

Yet the Trudeau government has resisted calls from medical experts and the NDP to follow countries like the U.K. in having an inquiry into how governments handled the COVID-19 pandemic and how they could better manage a future pandemic.

When asked about an inquiry, Champagne said the announcement is focused on having the right materials and researchers on hand when needed.

害羞草研究所淲e all hope that there be no other pandemic. But the responsible thing to do is to make sure that you have the team stand by and ready,害羞草研究所� he said.

Champagne told a biotechnology industry gathering on Friday that officials found Canada was not ready in co-ordinating 害羞草研究所渉ealth emergency readiness害羞草研究所� when peers started looking into preparing for future events.

害羞草研究所淲e realized that things were scattered,害羞草研究所� he said.

He said Canada faced the danger of being the only G7 country 害羞草研究所渨ithout a dedicated team害羞草研究所� for pandemic preparedness.

Once fully operational, the agency will have an 害羞草研究所渋ndustrial game plan害羞草研究所� to move quickly on research and industrial mobilization if another health emergency like a pandemic is declared.

Champagne said the pandemic and investments in personalized medicine have made the public enthusiastic about the biotechnology sector.

害羞草研究所淚f there is one industry that I think Canadians have fallen in love again with, it害羞草研究所檚 certainly that industry,害羞草研究所� he said.