OTTAWA -- At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was not adequately prepared to respond to the surging demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE), after failing to address decades-long issues with managing Canada’s stockpile of emergency supplies. This was the conclusion reached by Auditor General Karen Hogan in a report tabled in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon examining the federal government’s handling of procuring PPE in the lead up to and through the pandemic. “At the onset of the pandemic, PHAC lacked some of the systems and practices it needed to properly manage and operate the country’s stockpile of emergency equipment… As a result, it was not as prepared as it could have been to respond to the increased demand for personal protective equipment and medical devices that came from the provinces and territories,” read Hogan’s report.