Feds Replace Chief Pandemic Manager for Fourth Time in 28 Months

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference as he visits the Public Health Agency of Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on July 31, 2020. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal government has replaced the country’s chief pandemic manager for the fourth time in 28 months, announcing the appointment of a new president of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on Feb. 10.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement that Heather Jeffrey, who is currently serving as associate deputy minister of health, will become the new boss of the country’s public health division effective Feb. 27.

PHAC was formed in 2004 following the 2002-2003 SARS virus and is responsible for the control and prevention of chronic and infectious diseases. PHAC is part of Canada’s health portfolio and works closely with Health Canada, responding to public health threats, and focusing on disease and injury prevention.

The chief public health officer advises the president of PHAC and the federal minister of health.

Jeffrey was formerly a deputy minister on the Health Canada COVID-19 task force and previously worked for the department of global affairs and as a director in foreign affairs and international trade.

Nancy Hamzawi, currently assistant deputy minister of the health products and food branch at Health Canada, will be joining Jeffrey as executive vice-president of PHAC, effective Feb. 27.

Hamzawi was assistant deputy minister at the COVID-19 Testing Secretariat for Health Canada from 2020 to 2021. She formerly worked in the climate change and environmental protection departments of the federal government.

Jeffrey will be replacing veterinarian Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, who was appointed to the role of head of  PHAC on Oct. 12, 2021. Kochhar was formerly associate deputy minister of health. Following the shuffle, he will be taking a new role as president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, effective Feb. 27.

Before Kochhar, the role of PHAC president was held for roughly a year by Iain Stewart, who led the agency during much of the pandemic.

Stewart came under fire from MPs in the House of Commons in June 2021 for failing to provide unredacted documents related to the firing of two scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

Stewart’s exit from PHAC was announced on Oct. 12, 2021.

Stewart had formerly been president of the National Research Council of Canada—the government’s main scientific research arm—but was appointed to lead public health after the previous president, Tina Namiesniowski, resigned from the job in September 2020.

After 18 months in the role, Namiesniowski said at the time she needed to “take a break” and that the public health agency needed “someone who will have the energy and the stamina to take the agency and our response to the next level.”

“While responding to this crisis, we’ve done many things since then to add capacity, improve processes, take on new roles and really build up the competence that had diminished in recent years. All of this work has taken a personal toll on so many people... I put myself in that category,” she said in a letter announcing her departure, which was released by PHAC.

Many of the newly announced appointments are being attributed to the retirement of four public service bureaucrats in other departments.