The pandemic and border closures have highlighted the need to bolster vulnerable supply chains to ensure that important needs are met and that business and daily activities aren’t disrupted. But there are a variety of challenges to overcome internationally as well as at home at the federal and provincial government levels and with private industry. Supply chains came under the spotlight when Canada faced shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies at the start of the pandemic. Geoffrey Hale, political science professor at the University of Lethbridge, says the issue deserves a long look but there are significant impediments to shoring up vulnerable supply chains, which result “partly [from] governing styles and partly from structural issues of fiscal and bureaucratic inertia.” “It is monstrously complex given the diversity of ownership and regulatory authority over critical infrastructure, which is currently the policy foundation for supply chain security—and the …