The federal Liberal government has spent three years deliberating on an invitation for Canada to join a global body that designs vaccinations to protect the world's poorest people from preventable diseases.
Adam R Houston and colleagues argue that Canada needs to reverse its track record from covid-19 and prioritise public need over profits in its domestic investments and global leadership for health
Inequitable access to covid-19 vaccines1 as well as tests, treatments, and other tools has cost millions of lives, prolonged the pandemic, and highlighted tensions between countries’ domestic responses and their collective global responsibilities. Resolving such tensions has continued implications, including for the pandemic treaty currently being negotiated by the World Health Assembly.2 These tensions are also witnessed within Canada, a high income country that frames itself as a global health leader3 yet became one of the most prominent hoarders of the limited global covid-19 vaccine supply, despite itself being wholly reliant on importation.
The government of Canada has a history of providing financial support for global health programmes and initiatives, but its record of sharing
Federal Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly was at the Laval Cosmodome on Jan. 22 where she announced to an audience including Laval’s mayor and local MPs and MNAs that Ottawa is allocating $2.7 million to support the relocation of the Armand Frappier Museum of biosciences