New report finds broad support among Canadians for increasing mandatory contributions to WHO

Editor's Note: This article was inadvertently published before the editing process was completed. It has been updated.

As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests broad support among Canadians for an increase inannual mandatory funding for the World Health Organization to build up global health infrastructure.

According to the new report Foreign Policy by Canadians, 63per cent of Canadian participantssupported the idea of increased mandatory funding for the WHO, while 21per centof participants were opposed.

The WHO is the United Nations agency that directs and coordinates the global response to health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump pulled funding from the WHO last year over the agency's early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming "China has total control" over the agency.

President Joe Biden restored U.S. funding to the WHO in the early days of his presidency.

Canada has provided an average of about $18 million annually to the WHO over the past five years in assessed contributions the dues countries pay in order to be a WHOmember state.

Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan, who co-chaired the group of former parliamentarians and public servants that advised on the report, said she wasn't surprised by the high level of support for increased mandatory contributions.

"I think, overall, that Canadians understand ... thata global pandemic is just that it's global. And that Canada working alone cannot protect its citizens, and therefore we need to be part of a larger global enterprise.And the WHO is one of the vehicles by which we participate in that global reaction," McLellan told reporters in a press conference.

A majority of participants in the study also said Canada should push to legally authorize the WHO to inspect countries independently when an outbreak is suspected;70per cent of participantssupportedthe proposal and 16per centopposed it.

China has been heavilycriticized for its actions in the early days of the novel coronavirus outbreak. One report says China waited six days in January 2020 before warning the worldthat it faceda possiblepandemic.

The study also found that 83 per centof participants saidCanada should maintain high restrictions on international travel from high-risk countries until most Canadians have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Canadians are more divided on the question of sharing vaccines with low-income nations at least as long as there is stilla need for vaccine doses here in Canada.

Fifty-six per cent of participants say Canada should contribute COVID-19 vaccines to "poor"nations as itdistributes dosesat home. Twenty-nine per cent of participants opposed that idea, while 11per cent said theywere "in the middle" on the issue.

Canada has donated $440M to COVAX, a global vaccine sharing program, and has committed to sharing up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Wealthier nationshave fared the bestin the early stages of the global vaccine rollout.

WHO Director General Adhanom Ghebreyesus said thatat the beginning of the month, just 0.4 per centof the 1.8 billionvaccine doses deliveredglobally had been administered in low-income countries.

The study also asked participants about the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, a federal government-run monitoring and analysis unit that was partially shuttered in 2019.

Sixty-eight per cent of participants expressed support for reinstating the network and protecting the international warning system from future cutbacks. Twelveper cent of participants opposed reinstating the network.

ThePublic Health Agency of Canada has made moves on this file already quietly reorganizing its internal divisions and assemblinga security and intelligence section tasked with providing better, faster warnings of future pandemics.

'Deliberative polling'

The new report is the product of a joint initiative by the Canadian International Council, the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Healthand Global Canada, a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization that aims to enhance "Canada's global impact and reputation."

The questionnaire and discussion groups were convened on the Stanford Platform for Online Deliberation, which practices "deliberative polling."

Deliberative polling is a Stanford University polling method that first polls a random, representative sample on specific issues.

Participants are then invited to gather in small groups to discuss the issues. Participants are provided with "carefully balanced briefing materials" and are given the opportunity to direct questions at "panels of experts holding diverse views."

At the end of the process, participants are asked to complete the same questionnaire they completed at the beginning of the process.

The values quoted in this article reflectthe post-deliberation results of the questionnaire.

"They were briefed up almost as if they were a cabinet minister," said former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt,who co-chaired the group of former parliamentarians and public servants that advised on the report.

"The briefs that they received, the ability to ask questions it was like sitting in the seat as a minister where you would receive briefings and you make decisions and you ask questions and you come forward with what your final deliberation is."