The warning system was hamstrung Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. The Public Health Agency of Canada did not have a chief health surveillance officer when COVID-19 pandemic hit and had not had one since 2017, a report from an independent panel released Monday reveals. CBC reports that the GPHIN high-tech health warning system was hamstrung—"surveillance was not well co-ordinated in the four years leading up to the arrival of the novel coronavirus." The three-person panel—former national security adviser Margaret Bloodworth and health experts Dr. Paul Gully and Dr. Mylaine Breton—found that while PHAC had drafted a strategic surveillance plan in 2016 for detecting pandemics, "the plan never received formal approval." The report says the Internet-based GPHIN surveillance system had experienced a turnover in critical staff and the network had never regained the positions cut in the course of the former Conservative government's deficit-reduction action plan. The panelists were not able to determine who authorized changes that appeared to make it hard for the system to work when the pandemic hit. In 2019, authority to issue alerts was taken away from the GPHIN team and vested with the vice-president of the agency. The panel pointed out in its interim assessment that it had not been given any explanation for the change to the system for issuing alerts. The question of who ordered this significant policy change was never answered. Jab donation: Canada announced Monday it will donate 17.7 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries through the global vaccine-sharing alliance COVAX, the Canadian Press reports. The government also announced it would match donations Canadians make to a UNICEF fundraising campaign called “Give a Vax.” Kenney wants visitors: Speaking at the Calgary Stampede, Jason Kenney said he will push Justin Trudeau to open Canada's border to fully vaccinated foreigners, the Canadian Press reports. Canada recently got rid of its 14-day quarantine rule for returning citizens and permanent residents who can show they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and tested negative. The border remains shut to tourists and residents from other countries travelling for non-essential purposes. The Canada-U.S. border is closed to non-essential travel until at least July 21, and Trudeau hasn't said whether that would be extended for another month. Tighter rules for researchers: Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced Monday that funding requests from university researchers will be subject to national-security review to protect Canadian intellectual property, the Globe reports. Champagne unveiled rewritten guidelines Monday for Ottawa’s main scientific research granting agency amid growing concerns that Canadian universities and researchers are transferring intellectual property to China—specifically its military and security apparatus. Researchers applying for grants through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) will now have to complete a security risk assessment, complete with mitigation measures, in consultation with national security agencies and federal departments on a case-by-case basis. CSIS has repeatedly warned that Canada is being targeted. Mission to stop misconduct: The acting commander of Canada's Armed Forces revealed a plan to tackle sexual misconduct in the Forces on Monday, the Canadian Press reports. The plan will include posting "culture officers" on warships, developing training workshops with survivors, and launching a restorative justice program. Eyre, who took over as acting chief of the defence staff in February after Admiral Art McDonald temporarily stepped aside after five weeks as defence chief due to an allegation of misconduct, said there is no "silver bullet" and culture change "will not happen overnight." Polls look good for an election: The Star's Susan Delacourt looks at a new poll from Abacus Data and sees Canadians are feeling optimistic, which could mean an election is coming. Is it any wonder that Trudeau seems to have slipped into election gear over the past few weeks? All that talk of a one-dose summer, two-dose fall is shifting to an even more hopeful conversation about what happens after the pandemic is over. “Seems like the perfect time to call an election,” Coletto suggested in his Twitter post about the country’s mood. The poll shows Jagmeet Singh doing well with voters and Erin O'Toole struggling to connect. Grim Greens: The Globe's Campbell Clark has a look at the Greens' leadership struggles and finds a party bickering its way to obscurity. [Green leader Annamie] Paul herself mismanaged the internal politics that are a big part of her job, failing to tend relationships with MPs and party officials, or in some cases to return calls or e-mails, and, tellingly, blundering over a dispute between her aide and MPs. Even some Greens on her side in the intraparty war think she made the worst of an impossible situation. It’s hard to imagine it can go on. The Federal Council is holding a confidence vote on Ms. Paul July 20, after issuing a letter of indictment of her leadership. New emission targets: Ottawa submitted Canada's new greenhouse gas emissions target to the UN Monday, committing to cut by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, the CBC reports. Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson who wrote to the provinces about amending the federal carbon-pricing benchmark said he doesn't expect support for the changes to be unanimous. Saskatchewan is complaining that Ottawa has rejected a made-in-Saskatchewan carbon tax, the Canadian Press reports. Scott Moe has denounced this as an "arbitrary and political decision from Ottawa." Offside: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms admitted Monday to hiring a private investigator to follow a Manitoba judge overseeing a court challenge of COVID-19 restrictions in Manitoba, the Canadian Press reports. Group president John Carpay apologized. Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said he realized he was being followed by a vehicle after leaving the courthouse last week. He said a person ... also went to his home and spoke with his daughter. — Stephen Maher | 