COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 21st, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to the 11th meeting of the House of Commons Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Today's meeting is taking place by video conference.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, please activate your mike, and when you're not speaking, please make sure that your mike is off and it's muted.

I would like to remind the honourable members that if they wish to speak in English, they should choose the English channel, and if they wish to speak in French, they should choose the French channel.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Chair, we're not getting the interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We're not getting the interpretation.

Can you hear the interpretation now?

No interpretation is happening. We have a technical issue. I'm looking to our technical people.

I am going to read the instructions in both languages while waiting for them to sort out the interpretation problem.

I would like to remind the honourable members that if they wish to speak in English, they should choose the English channel, and if they wish to speak in French, they should choose the French channel. If you plan to speak in both languages, you should switch back and forth between the interpretation channels as required .

Each time you switch languages, please make sure that you switch back and forth. It's not an easy thing to do. I'd like to say that it becomes a habit, but it's still a struggle to go through.

Furthermore, to facilitate the interpreters' work, I would ask members to address their remarks to the chair, and to speak slowly and clearly at all times.

Yesterday we had some people who were trying to get as much as they could in. I know that some of us have a habit of speaking quickly. Just keep it down out of consideration not only for our members but also for our interpreters.

We also strongly recommend that those who will be speaking wear a headset. Once again, it's very important not only for your online colleagues, but also for the interpreters, to make it easier for them to understand what is being said. The clearer the comments, the better they can perform their task.

Before beginning, I will check to see whether the technical problem with interpretation has been settled. Apparently not.

We're going to suspend for a couple of minutes until we can resolve the interpretation problem.

It should be working again within a few minutes.

Stand by and we'll start in a couple of minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We're going to resume the sitting.

I understand that there are no ministerial announcements today, so we'll go right into presenting petitions for a period not exceeding 15 minutes. I want to remind members that any petition presented during the meeting of the special committee must have already been certified by the clerk of petitions.

The first petition will be presented by Mr. Johns.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Chair, it's a huge honour today to table this petition on behalf of constituents from Courtenay—Alberni. They're calling on the government to support Motion M-1, which is the motion tabled by my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby. It's calling for the government to make a Canada-made new deal, the first initiative before the House of Commons, which calls on the government to take bold and rapid action to adopt socially equitable climate action to tackle the climate emergency and address worsening socio-economic and racial inequalities while, at the same time, ending fossil fuel subsidies, closing offshore tax havens, supporting workers impacted by the transition and creating well-paid unionized jobs in the shift to a clean and renewable energy economy.

They are tabling this petition because they're deeply concerned that climate change has escalated into a global climate emergency and the world is on pace to warm nearly 4°C by 2100. Extreme weather events are now growing with increasing impacts, including floods, forest fires, rising temperatures, killer heat-waves, massive storms, sea level rise and disruption to marine and land ecosystems. They are citing that the timing of tabling this petition is important. Post-COVID, they're looking for a new normal that can address these very important issues and help move us forward in a progressive way and help support future generations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go to Ms. May.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, it's an honour to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in Saanich—Gulf Islands. Of course, this petition has taken some time to reach the virtual floor of our Parliament, given the pandemic.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada and the House of Commons to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's calls to action in relation to UNDRIP. They call for the immediate halting of all existing and planned construction of Coastal GasLink projects on Wet'suwet'en territory. They also call for the scheduling of nation-to-nation talks, which we can acknowledge has commenced, but they also further call on prioritizing the real implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Now we'll go to Ms. Rempel Garner.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, it's an honour to present petition e-2303, which has been certified by the clerk of petitions. The petition was started by my colleague, Alberta MLA Jeremy Nixon, and is signed by 16,636 Canadians from every corner of our country.

The petition recognizes that the government has refused to acknowledge the unfairness of the equalization program. It also recognizes the Liberal government's hostile and bourgeois approach to the workers in my riding. I share the anger of the petitioners who have signed this petition. The petition seeks to rectify this by calling upon the government to allow the Province of Alberta to take any and all measures deemed necessary to further its rightful autonomy and advance the interests of all Albertans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now proceed to questioning of ministers.

The first question goes to Mr. Jeneroux.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, the chief public health officer of Canada testified at our health committee this week that she waited too long to close the borders. Would the Deputy Prime Minister agree with her?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Chair, Canada currently has restrictive border measures in place. One of the aspects of our border measures that I think is most valuable to Canadians—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Jeneroux.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, I would remind the member that on December 31, 2019, a Canadian company, BlueDot, first discovered evidence of the coronavirus spread. Also, in early January, the Public Health Agency was made aware of the potential spread to Canada, but it wasn't until March 16, after many calls from all opposition parties, I might add, that the government implemented travel bans.

Again, would the Deputy Prime Minister agree that her government waited too long to close the borders?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, let me continue my answer.

One of the most important and trickiest aspects of our travel restrictions has been to ensure that we have restrictions in place with our largest neighbour, most important trading partner, the United States, restrictions which simultaneously protect the health of Canadians but also permit essential travel for businesses, for services. That was a complex balance to achieve. I'm very pleased that we have achieved it.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, after all this evidence, now in hindsight, would the Deputy Prime Minister agree with me that the Public Health Agency of Canada and, specifically, the Minister of Health, lacked the urgency to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19 like in other countries?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, as I said, getting the balance exactly right, particularly with the United States, with whom we have the longest unmilitarized border in the world and with whom we have essential trade that needs to continue, was very tricky. I'm very pleased that we've managed to do that in a reciprocal and collaborative way.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Is Canada currently facing or at risk of drug shortages due to COVID-19?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are very closely monitoring the need for various medicines in Canada.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that approval of some drugs, including life-saving drugs, has not been sought here in Canada due to the uncertainty of the PMPRB drug regulatory changes?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, absolutely not. I would strongly disagree with that assertion. Of course, not every drug that is invented in the world has a manufacturer that seeks approval in Canada, but we always look for ways for Canadians to have access to the medicines they need.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, has the Deputy Prime Minister heard that the PMPRB regulatory changes could lead to drug shortages?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, let me be very, very clear with Canadians. It is absolutely important for Canadians to have access to the medicines that they need. That is something that our government, working closely with the provinces, is focused on.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, will the Deputy Prime Minister delay the PMPRB regulatory changes that come into effect on July 1?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, our government is focused on making the medicines that Canadians need available to them at an affordable price.