B.C. applauds own COVID response, public opinion survey disagrees

The B.C. government has released the results of an independent review into its COVID-19 response and giving itself a pat on the back, despite a public opinion survey contained in the document suggesting there’s nothing to celebrate.

The final report of the “COVID-19 Lessons Learned Review” was posted Friday. The 150-page document says that “overall, despite being unprepared for a province-wide emergency the Government of British Columbia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was strong, showing resilience, balance, and nimbleness.”

However, the same document shows 74 per cent of respondents “disagree” with the statement — 64 per cent “strongly” — that “overall, the B.C. government managed the pandemic well.”

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth was defensive when asked about this apparent difference of opinion at a last-minute news conference held Friday, just about an hour after the document was sent out.

“I think that’s absolutely wrong, and I think what you need to do on that is read the rest of the report, particularly around that, which says that this was not a statistically relevant sample in the way that it was just open line, go online and give your opinion. I think there have been plenty of public surveys out there that show government did a very effective job in terms of handling the pandemic, that have been done on a statistically sound basis, and the authors of the report acknowledge that,” he said.

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The report notes that over 15,000 responses were received as part of the public survey, which was available in multiple languages through the province’s website. The authors adds the survey “was not representative of the population as a whole because people chose to participate.”

“The results were considerably more negative than those seen in public opinion research results but served to emphasize that a significant part of the population was extremely upset by the pandemic response, especially mask and vaccine mandates, which were very divisive,” the report continued.

When asked why the B.C. government would conduct a survey that is “not representative of the population as a whole,” Farnworth said “the province did not conduct that survey, the office of the report did, and they acknowledge that in their report.”

The report includes reviews and conclusions, but does not make any recommendations for the future. However, the report authors say each of their findings are “accompanied by a conclusion,” each of which suggest “where government effort is needed, without being prescriptive about what changes should be made.”

Findings and conclusions

In total, there are 26 findings and conclusions, which the authors of the report say are “intended to help the B.C. government be better prepared for future provincewide emergencies.”

Overall, the report has found that while the province was underprepared for the pandemic, it was able to respond to the evolving crisis. It notes there are many lessons to be learned.

Among the findings is that while public trust was high in the initial stages of the pandemic, trust “eroded” for a number of reasons, raising concerns that this could turn into more resistance to restrictions that may be brought in by the next emergency.

The report finds B.C.’s pandemic response was effective, despite the province not being “well prepared.” It concludes, however, that the government “could improve preparations for a future pandemic” or other similar event “by setting a principle-based standard” for emergency preparedness.

Prior to the pandemic, the province had no plan or “planning ethic” to be prepared for such an event, the report adds. “Plans in place before the pandemic dealt only with coordination and were mostly not followed,” it explained, noting the province should consider developing such an approach that includes “risk identification, developing, practising, and continuously improving plans for major emergencies in accordance with the standard suggested in the previous finding.”

BC Liberals critical of COVID response report

Meanwhile, the BC Liberals say they’re disappointed with the timing of the report’s release.

Health critic Shirley Bond says the Liberals have expressed a number of concerns — some of which were validated by the report.

“This report does conclude that there was a lack of transparency and that resulted in a dropping level of trust in our province,” she said.

While Bond notes she has not read the full report, she says what she has seen shows more transparency is needed.

“The report was very narrow in its scope to begin with. This report does not cover policy decisions that were made by the public health officer, the office, or any other ministry. So it sets aside critical policy decisions,” she explained, taking aim at the lack of specific recommendations.

“Of course we need recommendations, and I do appreciate the work that the group did, because at least they found it important to include findings,” Bond continued.

“There are certainly indications that we need to be better prepared, that we need better communication, and … the government also has a job to do in terms of rebuilding trust.”