Andrew Scheer Said The Government Is Relying On The WHO Too Much & He Wants To Know Why

So many press conferences, so little time. Now, one federal party leader is questioning the government's reliance on information from one specific organization. Andrew Scheer's WHO comments included him wondering Canada is relying on the organization.

During a press conference on April 15, Scheer spoke about Canada's response to COVID-19 including efforts to flatten the curve, medical equipment, recalling parliament and the WHO.

"We have extremely talented doctors, researchers and medical experts here in Canada," Scheer said.

He went on the mention that Canada shouldn't simply be relying on the WHO but should instead be at the forefront of the crisis by offering our expertise to other countries.

The Conservative leader also said that China has an "inordinate effect" on the WHO and that he isn't confident that the organization looks at objective data.

"This government has decided to base their decisions on evidence coming out of the WHO," Scheer said.

After that, he noted that there are health experts, researchers and doctors in Canada who have been calling for different things and proposing alternatives.

"This government chose to ignore those domestic voices and rely more heavily on the WHO," Scheer said. "We need to find out why."

However, the Prime Minister said during his own press conference that he'll continue working with experts in Canada and around the world. 

On April 15, Trudeau was also asked about the organization.

He told reporters that the country's support and funding for the WHO is in the tens of millions of dollars range.

"We will always continue to work with experts both domestically and internationally to take the best advice possible in keeping Canadians safe," he said.

While U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his administration to stop funding the WHO, Trudeau said that he "hasn't made any direct asks or indirect asks of Canada around that."

The Prime Minister also skirted around questions about whether he shared the same views as others, like Scheer, about the organization and China.

A day earlier, Scheer had also said that he had "serious concerns" about the WHO.

During his own press conference before Trudeau's, Scheer also spoke multiple times about the shutdown and stay-at-home instructions from the government.

He said that the restrictions were "all in order to buy the government time."

Scheer used that phrasing multiple times and said the measures gave the government and health agencies time to build capacity so that the number of cases didn't overwhelm the system.

Trudeau and other health officials have been asking Canadians to stay home to save lives.